Linking up with Becky and Choose Happy and several other friends for another Currently! Please join us and let us know what you’re currently up to!
Craving || Banana peppers. I like them on sandwiches, salads, and pizza. Why do I need them all the time? No clue. I’m also eating a lot of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. 🙂
Enjoying || The gorgeous warmer weather! It’s finished snowing (hopefully) and we are seeing the sun! I even took my kids on a walk AFTER DINNER tonight! I know – totally unheard of!
Excited about || having only three more weeks (ish) in our renovation! That’s only three more weeks of farming out laundry, going around the whole house to get to everything in the back, and having WAY TOO MUCH stuff upstairs. Also, I’m excited to start looking at some new furniture for the downstairs, and get back all the furniture that we kept (because we loved it) that’s in garages all over town.
Loving || My kiddos. EK has made it at least a little bit past her truly ornery stage (she was a pill for a few weeks there) and gotten back closer to her regular disposition – which is good, because I was going nuts. Also, both kids are communicating a lot more (at their own levels) than they used to, so I’m excited to see how this next few weeks goes in the way of talking!
Watching || The Bachelor finale! I’m leaving for a friend’s house in just a few minutes!
EK: (Pointing at the bump) Mama! You got a baby in your tummily?
Me: Yes! Are you excited?
EK: Yeah, I love him!
Me: Do you remember his name?
EK: *says the name* My friend! He is so special!
Me: That’s a wonderful thing to say! I think he’s special, too.
EK: You go to the doctor to make sure he’s safe? (That’s how I had explained going to the doctor so much.)
Me: Yes, I go to the doctor to check on the baby and make sure he’s safe.
I’m blown away by the little gal’s love and kindness toward him already. However, sometimes I wish she’d show a little more love and kindness to the brother that’s outside my womb.
I like to think that by blogging, I’m able to impart a little motherly wisdom, provide a little entertainment, and encourage some weary women out there with a little good news. I think this post does all three of those things pretty well… So here’s a post about pregnancies – and how they’re all different.
When you’re pregnant with your first baby, no matter how you feel, you probably have the opportunity to rest a lot. With your first, you can lounge around in your free time, sleep a lot, rest, and exploit your spouse to please cook the thing you’re craving and take out the trash because your pregnant nose is in overdrive and you can’t stand the smell. You always know what week you’re on (16 weeks, 2 days, 3 hours and 15 minutes) and you have the due date marked in all your friends’ and family members’ calendars. You have a perfect nursery, complete with outfits for every type of weather and every size up to 3T. You’ve looked at day cares and preschools, read parenting books and blogs, and chosen the perfect name for a successful human. You are way ahead of the game, due purely to excitement.
When you’re pregnant with your second baby, there is no resting unless your kid is resting (so basically none). There is no requesting special meals, because the meals revolve around the current kid, not you. If he takes out the trash, you’re probably doing the dishes or changing a diaper, anyway. You try to eat as healthily as possible (fruit, non-sugary cereal, etc) since you’re trying to feed your kid pretty healthy, too. You keep on doing your thing as much as possible, sneaking naps if you can, and going to bed a little earlier, if your spouse is helping with laundry.
With your third, all bets are pretty much off. You’re going and bopping and feeding and playing and cleaning and laundering and driving to and from and yonder. You’re eating a lot of mac and cheese, because that’s what’s easy to satisfy everyone’s palates. You’re already swimming in diapers and wipes, so no need to buy a bunch of those in preparation. You’ve got every type of hand-me-downs, so the kid is set on clothes. You feel like you want to buy the third kid something new, but you just don’t need anything and you don’t have extra cash really to throw at unnecessary baby items. You also better have your maternity clothes unpacked at 8 weeks, because you’ll need them.
But you know what will be the same every time? You’ll still smile when you feel the baby move in your womb. You will be excited to pick the name, however far along you are. You will know love that you didn’t know you had room for in your heart. You will begin praying for that little being and the rest of his or her life.
I’ve had a few friends who are expecting their first baby ask for a little advice on how to prepare for the bundle of joy. So here are a few things that I figured out either with EK or with J or because a wise woman told me so.
This was when a friend and I took our collective three kids on a walk. Only two are mine, but she was saying since we knew we’d have another, it was only a matter of time until it was me without a friend…
1. When placing your nursery furniture, to important to make it look nice. It’s also important to make it convenient for you to use each of the pieces in the room. For instance, when you wake up to the cry of your newborn at 3:00am, walk in the nursery, and immediately smell something… terrible… you know that you’re gonna need to change a diaper, and probably clothes, blankets, and maybe sheets. You pick up your sweetie, move to the changing table, and roll up your sleeves. Within arm’s reach, you want to have that extra change of clothes, as well as diapers and wipes, of course. So when arranging your furniture, it’s good to have your dresser (or wherever clothes are kept) within easy reach of the changing table, so you don’t have to walk off and leave the baby!
2. Speaking of changing the sheets, all moms know that changing crib sheets is a giant pain in the booty. So how do you make yourself have to change them less often, even though your baby will have messy poops, incredibly sized pees, and spit ups that stink to high heaven? One word: layer. My wonderful mother-in-law introduced me to this idea, and it’s saved my sleepy or busy self more times than I can count. So what you do is have 4-6 sheets AND full mattress-sized waterproof pads, and layer them into the mattress. I like to take the mattress completely out of the crib to do this. That way, I just peel off the offending layer whenever there’s a mess, and toss it in the laundry, and there’s already a sheet on there, ready to go! Of course, 1/6 times, I’m screwed. But I’m saved the rest of the time!
3. When someone offers to make a meal calendar for you, take them up on it. When they ask for email addresses, give them every single one you know. If people don’t want to help/are too busy, they just won’t sign up. But everyone else? Let them feed you. Lots of them (like me a lot of times) will just ask what you want from your favorite take-out place. It’s a win-win. And sometimes, it’s a sweet friend, who comes bearing dinner, and does some dishes or some laundry while she’s there, because it’s somehow easier to do someone else’s than your own. ((If you need help with this one or don’t have someone to do it for you, email me and I’ll help you out.))
4. Related to #3, stock your freezer. If you’ve got a meal calendar set up with people doing dinners, stock the freezer with pancakes, waffles, muffins, breakfast sandwiches, sausage, bacon, etc. Another great idea is to pack individual baggies with everything for a smoothie in them. Put in your fruit, kale, spinach, oats, flax, or whatever you like in there, each in an individual Ziploc bag, and then all you have to do for breakfast (or lunch, or a snack) is put it in the blender with the liquid of your choice, and yogurt or peanut butter if that’s how you roll. For lunches and dinners, spaghetti sauce and chili are easy things to make and stock up on, as well.
5. Get the book Happiest Baby on the Block or at least skim it in Babies R Us one day. Cliff notes: When they are fussy, swaddle them, let them suck on something, swing or bounce them, hold them positioned on their side or stomach and make some loud white noise (loud “shh”, vacuum, hair dryer, etc). Y’all are thinking I’m crazy. Try it.
6. Start letting baby put himself to sleep even when he’s a couple of weeks old. When he’s fed and diapered and snuggled (and swaddled, in my opinion), lay him in the crib and leave the room. Learning to go to sleep on his own will make everyone’s lives easier in the long run.
7. Something I didn’t do until recently (mostly because I think they didn’t have it when EK was a newborn) is sign up for one of those Amazon or something diaper subscriptions, where they just send them to you. I’ve got it now that my kids aren’t growing out of diaper sizes too quickly (and they’re both in the same size), but here’s what I did. I took all those coupons for creating registries at Babies R Us and Bed Bath and Beyond, and bought diapers – a couple of cases in every size. I waited till they were on sale (since before you have the baby there’s no rush, right?) and used the coupons. Babies R Us is great at mailing you stuff monthly, and almost every time there are coupons for diapers. I only bought one box of newborn size (they grow out of those the quickest in my experience) and two boxes of the rest (stopping at size 4) just in case. I felt totally prepared, and if I did run out of diapers, I at least had some in the size up they could wear so I was never completely and totally out.
8. Find a good stain remover. This is a total must, because your baby is going to be causing stains on everything. I really love Babyganics, and it really seems to work on everything from poop and spit-up to red wine and coffee (and those are the four most common stains at my house).
9. Use the heck out of those annoying and wonderful Bed, Bath and Beyond 20% off coupons you get all the time. Use them on carseats, strollers, toys, nursery furniture, pillows, swaddles, and anything else you can buy there instead of a baby store. Our BB&B recently got a major baby section upgrade, so I get tons of stuff there with those super coupons.
10. Don’t refuse the help. Yes, there’s a line between letting a thousand people traipse through your house every moment of the day and accepting the help of well-meaning friends and family for a few days, or a few days a week if they’re willing to keep it up for a little while. But if someone offers to snuggle the baby and let you nap, or let you shower, let them. If someone offers to do a load of laundry or pick up some groceries, let them. These things are so nice and helpful, and often it’s a chance for a friend or aunt or someone to meet your little bundle. A win-win for everyone!
All you almost-mamas, I hope this helps! Pass it along to anyone who might need some words of wisdom before their little babe gets here!
Do the veteran mamas have anything to add to the list?!
This morning, I was the grump queen. Can’t you tell?
Sometimes, EK drives me up the wall.
She shouts. She often shouts things I’ve heard myself say. I try really hard not to shout or yell or holler or whatever at my kids, but sometimes the words I use in a speaking voice that probably are the same as yelling. Sometimes, she’s whiny and tantrum-y and needy and clingy and attached to Daddy even when I’m the only one around, and it’s hard. It can be so hard. Especially when there’s another little one who is also clingy and needy and whiny, it’s really hard. It wears on me. And let’s not pretend that my pregnancy hormones aren’t making it worse, because they are. “She of little patience” has become “Monster with no patience at all”.
Today, we had a hectic morning. I was trying to get the kids and me (with our laundry) out the door so that sick Hubby could rest without screeching (the happy or the sad kind) and bumping and whatever other kid-related noise. While I was doing the normal stuff to get them ready to go, something happened. For the first time, EK hit me. I was totally baffled. I didn’t even punish her. I couldn’t figure out why or what started it. I’d been doing what I normally do in the morning – fixing breakfasts, getting everyone dressed, finding shoes and coats, convincing them to help me get them ready to go, etc. I leaned down to pick something up off the floor (I can’t remember what, now) and while I was leaning over, she swiped at me, right on the side of my head.
It didn’t hurt. She’s just a little girl, so obviously I wasn’t hurt. But my feelings were. I’ve never clocked her on the side of the head (duh) so why would she think to do that to me? She didn’t seem particularly upset in that moment, and I didn’t even say much besides, “Why did you just hit me? Should you sit in time out?” I didn’t know how to respond, really. I just went on with getting us ready and out the door, and remembered it only a few minutes ago.
It was a terrible morning, really. We were all on edge from the moment we woke up. It might have to do with the fact that I woke up on the couch, EK woke up too early, and J woke up too late. It might have to do with the fact that I rushed them immediately out the door. It might be that I wouldn’t let them go see Daddy because I didn’t want them to get sick. It might be a hundred other things. But we were all in a crappy mood, and it just compounded when we were all doing it together.
But after we had spent a morning having breakfast with friends in our favorite little bakery (Tart Sweets – their cinnamon rolls were divine), had a few minutes of play time at home, picking up lunch from Cookout and eating at while we shopped at Babies R Us (it was a weird day, okay?) the kids were in great spirits and are now down in the second hour of their naps. A DOUBLE NAP! I’ve already prepped dinner! It’s wonderful MADNESS, I tell you! Hubby is a little weak, but still peacefully sleeping as he’s been doing all day, the kids and I had a tickle fight on EK’s bed before they napped, and I thankfully got a shower. See, my day could be redeemed. But I won’t pretend that as I packed them in the car, both crying, to go to breakfast, I wasn’t crying along with them, saying, “Jesus, take the freaking wheel.”
After a freezing cold week of being semi-iced-in, cancelled preschool and church activities, and random bouts of sickness, we needed a day out on the town, visiting friends and being productive. We needed to be worn out in a good way. We needed a day away from the TV. The kids are tired of spending all their time in one room (they’re used to roaming between upstairs and downstairs), the half of their toys that aren’t packed, and the fact that we’ve resorted to watching too much TV (even if it’s movies). It’s terrible. I’ve felt cooped up and so do they. We are ready for spring, for the renovations to be done, and for life to return to its regularly scheduled programming. Right now, in our lives, the struggle is real. But thank you Jesus for the reminder that my day, the kids’ day, our lives in general, can be redeemed.
HEY-O! I am 17 weeks. Say WHAT?! It’s nuts. I can’t believe I’m already here. We’re getting closer naming our little guy (woo!) and I’m finally posting the much anticipated bump picture! (Even if it wasn’t much anticipated, just give it to me. Just let me assume you’ve been wondering how big the bump was.)
The Hsu house has been struck with the stomach bug. EK had it two nights ago, a quick, relatively easy 7 hours of sickness, and then bouncing back to normal. We thought maybe it was something she had eaten… but alas, today Hubby started feeling yucky and is in the throes of it now. Here’s a GIANT prayer that J and I don’t get it. I hate stomach issues more than anything else.
The Hsu house has been struck with the stomach bug. EK had it two nights ago, a quick, relatively easy 7 hours of sickness, and then bouncing back to normal. We thought maybe it was something she had eaten… but alas, today Hubby started feeling yucky and is in the throes of it now. Here’s a GIANT prayer that J and I don’t get it. I hate stomach issues more than anything else.
As far as the house goes, we’ve had half a wall torn out upstairs, and replaced with plywood and plastic (ha!) to keep out the draft from the basement. (This is a good place to insert how wonderful ICON is… they replaced all our furniture, rug and toys before they left that day.They are totally awesome.)
Wiring is getting finished up, painting happened today (I didn’t get the chance to go see, but I’ll post some pictures later), and cabinets are going in early next week. I’m hoping that once the floors are done, we can look forward to having our washer and dryer hooked back up! That would be the biggest relief, because with our laundry constantly going and coming and being everywhere for lack of a place to put it, random rooms look like this:
Anyway, there’s a mini update on the craziness that is our life right now. Here’s hoping everyone is well and life is moving on tomorrow!
I am lacking some serious creativity (and dare I say it… motivation?) to name this little guy. I’m surprisingly content to just call him the little guy or little brother. Maybe it’s because I’ve placed too many restrictions on the process… Here are my requirements:
1. I want the name to have a significance besides “it sounds nice”. Either a good origin, family name, good meaning, etc. That being said…
2. I want it to sound nice. I want there to be a nice flow between first to middle, and middle to last, and first to last. I want it to go along (at least a little bit, not like rhyming or anything) with Ella Kate and Joseph. I don’t want to be calling out, “Ella Kate! Joseph! Gunner!” like I’m calling my dog. (I only say that because I know two dogs named Gunner. No hate if your kid’s name is Gunner.)
3. I’m not a huge fan of “alternate spellings”. I know some people are, and I don’t mind them, but I don’t really care for random y’s or x’s thrown in for no reason. Our last name is hard enough to get people to understand, without having a first name with a silent letter or something. No Jaxon or Kaleb or Camryn.
4. I don’t want his first name to be one syllable. I know, I know. But one syllable in the first name AND the last name just sounds choppy.(I’m getting ridiculous, I know.) Jack Hsu. Bob Hsu. You get my point.
5. I don’t want a name with the sound “ooh” in it. Like Jude or Lucas. Lucas Hsu is too much “ooh”.
Alright, that’s all I can think of for now, but don’t be surprised if I come back and edit a few more on here later… Do you have any suggestions for my little guy that follow all my ridiculous rules?
So, I don’t know what actually, truly constitutes a “toddler”, by definition anyway, but there is no one that “toddles” as much as my little one year old guy, so I’m guessing that qualifies him as a toddler. So, in effect, I have two toddlers.
That’s a scary sentence. Let’s say it again, for effect:
I. Have. Two. Toddlers. Yikes.
Double shower/teeth brushing. Typical.
This means that life can be crazy. As a quick story, this morning, Hubby was in the shower, I was getting J dressed, and EK had been playing with toys in the living room. The next thing I know, I don’t see or hear her, so I dare to peek out the front door. She’s on the sidewalk, with a nice lady who has pulled over to ask the little girl where her mommy is. It could not have been more than 120 seconds that she was outside, but still. I know, awful things could have happened. I’m thankful they didn’t. We have a chain on the top of the door that’s usually locked, and when we took the trash out after breakfast, we forgot to lock it back. Parenting 101, epically failed.
She is the experienced toddler, who knows all about crying when she doesn’t get what she wants. She knows all about working the room. She knows all about needing to potty right after she’s gone to bed, and about sneaking around the house really quietly in the morning in search of candy before Mommy manages to drag her exhausted self out of bed. Right now, our biggest fights are over nightgowns. She has two frilly little nightgowns she loves to wear, and if I let her, she’d wear them all day. Every once in a while, I break down and let her put it on for a nap, because as she reminds me, nightgowns are something you wear while you sleep. (Cue face palm because I should have said “sleeping AT NIGHT”.) If they are both in the laundry, then all bets for going to bed are off, because regular pajamas WILL NOT BE PUT ON HER BODY. So there.
One of the two favored nightgowns. Funny side note: she’s never watched Sophia the First.Photo from http://www.imgarcade.com
I also have one brand new toddler who, in addition to being extremely clumsy, is also very brave. Scaling furniture is less of a problem for him than simply walking from the car to the front door. Climbing the shelves in the kitchen is much easier than getting into his toddler-sized chair. He’s a little like the Tazmanian Devil, what with the messes that tend to follow him everywhere. He HATES the word “no” right now. If I have to tell him to stop doing something (smashing my laptop, carrying Daddy’s coffee around the room, etc) he immediately dissolves into wails. I think he just hears the word so often that he’s grown to hate it. I’m trying to figure out something else to say instead, but there’s just nothing as good as plain ol’ “no”.
My little guy, eating his eclectic meal and then spreading it all over creation.We managed to never have this problem with EK…
However, there are some pretty hilarious perks.
J says “thank you” to and for everything. He hands me something, and says it. He takes something from me, and says it. Picks something up off the floor, and says it. Puts a toy away, and says it. I guess I say it a lot? He also is doing this funny thing where he will eat almost anything, but only about 5 bites of it. His plate is very eclectic, because I know that bites 6-10 are wasted, so it’s got to be 5 bites of 5 different things. The things we do to ensure that our kids are eating enough…
I ask them to eat dinner when we’re at home, they holler and make a mess. Daddy takes them out to eat, and they look like angels all night.
EK is extremely good at communicating now, but every once in a while she gets stuck on something. She can’t quite get herself unbuckled from her car seat (I’m pretty sure I’m glad about it) but she can get one buckle undone, and then yells, “Somebody! HELP ME!” like I’m kidnapping her. I think it’s hilarious, but the passersby may think otherwise. She also loves the song from The Sound of Music “Do-Re-Mi” and whenever she sings it, she starts like this: “Do a deer, I call myself. Fa, a long long way to run. So, I need to pull a thread. La, I need to follow so. Ti, blah-blah-blah-blah bread! Sing sing back to do!” It’s basically the best. Whenever she starts singing it, Hubby and I just look at each other and try not to laugh until she’s finished. Her other key phrase is “Oh my gosh!” No explanation needed.
Keep the toddler on your lap for a snuggle whenever you can, because it isn’t often.
What are some crazy antics of your toddlers? Anything they say that’s hilarious every time? Any silly habits or funny things they do?8
First of all, thanks to my readers and friends for the sweet comments here and on Facebook about our newest news that bump #3 is a boy! Everyone seems just as pumped for a little brother as we are!!
Here’s a little life update on the house and bump numero tres…
I’m 16 weeks tomorrow (we go ahead and count it, right?) and I’m feeling awesome! Nesting would be happening if renovations weren’t already making things crazy… however, I’ve been reorganizing things here and there, and a little interior design sure feels like nesting. I’ve been making plans for the kids’ new rooms, their furniture, and what I need for the new baby.
Here’s my dilemma of the hour, so if you have some advice, hit me with it!
When I had J, EK was old enough to move to a big girl bed. So what I did was change over the nursery colors, and move all of EK’s clothes, etc to her “big girl room”. We amped it up big time, and started letting her do everything but sleep in there a couple of months early. Then, when J was born, she spent a couple of weeks really getting used to sleeping in there (J was still in his little Moses basket anywhere we felt like letting him sleep). Then, when he needed to move to the crib, she was already in her new room and big girl bed. Well, J will be too young, I think, to put him in a big guy bed, especially downstairs in his new room, so I think I’ll want to keep him in his crib/a crib.
That seems like no big deal, but I have a few problems. #1: We only have one crib. #2: It’s too big to get through the doorway of his bedroom (to move it downstairs) and it’s a MAJOR pain to dissemble and assemble. #3: Yes, we have a pack ‘n’ play, but it’s in rough shape, and I don’t think it could contain my 30lb son if he wanted to get out.
So there’s my dilemma. Basically, I need a crib to put downstairs in J’s room for a few months, until he’s ready for a bigger bed. He will probably move downstairs sometime between April (when the renovation is done) and July (when the baby comes) and then into a big boy bed in the late fall or early winter. I don’t want to go buy a crib just for 6 months or less, but would love to borrow one or take one off someone’s hands if they’re done with it (or done for 6 months time). I’m trying to work out the time where I need it for the shortest amount of time (without rushing J into a big boy bed), in case we end up borrowing from someone.
And on to other things… current prego status…
Craving PIZZA and Arnold Palmers
Taking less naps (finally)
Working out a little more (weather-dependent)
Getting to the bump stage instead of large dinner stage (no bumpie yet, sorry)
Getting up to pee in the middle of the night (I didn’t miss it)
Not into maternity clothes yet, but wearing mostly leggings and yoga pants for now.
Still really excited to get those Piko shirts that shipped today (I mentioned them here )
Today we’re at my in-laws’ house, because the drywall installation is loud (think power drills x 100) and because they installed the tub, which turned off the water for several hours (think about the potty training toddler and the pregnant lady and see the importance of having the potties). We’ve done several loads of laundry already, and caught up on some paperwork, and decided on preschool plans for next year, so I’d say it was a good, productive day so far.
I’ve got two basically boring pictures of the basement I can put up… and I’m sorry they’re not better. The first one is the laundry room getting insulation, and the other is of the powder room. They were the only two spots that had enough light to see what was going on when I took the pictures. Once the drywall is done and the lights are hooked up, I’ll be taking more and better ones.
You can see the washer/dryer hookup on the right side.Standing in the mudroom, looking into the powder room.
That’s what’s going on in my world right about now. What’s going on in yours?
Yes, it’s true! The Hsu Crew is adding another bouncing, baby boy to our ranks. And we couldn’t be more excited! We obviously would have been thrilled with a baby girl (especially to reuse some of the adorable clothes EK has grown out of) but we were ecstatic to hear we’ve got another boy to wrangle! That was a little bit of a perk that came along with the genetics test we had to take – it always tells the gender! So here are my reasons I’m excited for another little boy:
1. I’ll have a second chance on bowties. J’s neck got too big for baby bowties almost immediately, and I feel like I lost the whole “newborns-don’t-care-what-they-wear” phase to a fat neck and thighs so big half his pants wouldn’t fit (that’s still happening). I digress.
2. Boys playing – and fighting – together. I’ve basically heard that boys play together really well, and that girls have a lot of drama, and boys just duke it out and it’s over quickly. I’m kinda looking forward to most of the conflicts being resolved quickly.
3. Planes, trains and automobiles. We love cars and trucks and construction vehicles, Legos and blocks, and tool sets. EK does too, so that’s an extra plus. But it’s nice to know that those toys we’ve started to accumulate are going to get a lot more use. (And, my brother was a big Thomas the Tank Engine fan, so we have access to a TON of trains and tracks. Win.)
4. EK can still be the resident princess. My daughter’s diva status will go unchallenged. Right now, we’re trying to look at this like a plus. We are certainly aware that it could turn into a negative thing. We will cross that bridge if we must.
My little diva, in her element.
5. Boys love their mamas. Sometimes this can be detrimental (as in, big time mommy attachment, and huge adjustment for my elder son) but usually it’s just plain sweet how much little boys love their mamas.
My little guy, just learning to sit up. Those were the days, am I right?
Do you have a little boy? More than one? Do you agree with my excitement for having two?! Or have anything to add?
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