The Tantrum of One Incredibly Independent Baby

Last Tuesday, Miana told me that she was poopy, I checked her and she wasn't. Ten minutes later, she was poopy. So, later that night, when she said she was poopy and she wasn't yet, I decided to let her sit on the toilet, just to see what would happen. She loved this!! She would sit there a minute or so, then try to get down (sometimes even saying, "down"), as soon as she was off I would try to put her diaper on and she would yell, "pee-pee!" like it was coming any second. So, I'd put her back on the toilet and repeat the whole process. We did this exact cycle several more times, leaving her on the toilet for around 10 minutes total. I was in the middle of making dinner and couldn't sit there any longer with her, so I pulled her off and put her diaper back on... thus starting the longest tantrum she has ever had. She sat on the floor of the bathroom and screamed for 15-20 minutes. She usually gets over stuff really fast, but this lasted forever! Here is my payback for that tantrum:

Note: the yellow color in the toilet is not from her, Carter used it seconds before she did...

Here is an example of my baby being independent and tell you a little something about her personality. The other night after dinner, I heard a noise in the kitchen. The boys had not cleared their plates earlier and the noise sounded like the baby playing so I turned to see what she was doing. She took the 2 plates off the table, stacked them together in her hand and took them into the kitchen, stood on her tippy toes, and slid them into the sink. She then looked around, saw another plate on the counter and took it to the sink. I grabbed my camera because I am sure someday I will need proof that she "cleared the table and cleaned up after dinner, JUST FOR FUN!" She'll never believe me...

A Quick Quote

While I was posting my last post, Carter walked by. He has been potty trained for quite some time and we have lived in this house for more than 3 years...

Carter: I have to go pee-pee.
Me: Okay.
Carter: We have a bathroom, right?


Um, yes, I think so.

A note about clothes...

After reading this post on Stacy's blog about jeans, I was reminded of the following email that Rae sent me years ago, here's just the first part:

THE BIRTH ORDER OF CHILDREN
Your Clothes:
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

I would add...
4th baby: your body is so stretched out that regular jeans are big enough to act as maternity clothes for at least half of the pregnancy, especially if you have a pair of Stacy's adjustable waist jeans. :)

Here's the rest of the email from Rae, just for fun:

Preparing for the Birth:
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.

The Layette:
1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries:
1st baby: At the first sign of distress-a whimper, a frown-you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Pacifier:
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Diapering:
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities:
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd ba by: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.
(I'll add 4th baby: lives in the car running around to take the other kids to various locations)

Going Out:
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home:
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby:You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Swallowing Coins (a favorite):
1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
3rd child: When third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!

GRANDCHILDREN : God's reward for allowing your children to live!!!!!

The Very Long Story of what happened on Aug. 25th

I do realize that the way I wrote the last post, it sounds like we just found out we were having a baby. No. We just found out that our baby is a girl. We have known since the end of July that we were expecting. We had an experience in August that has caused me to be more cautious in telling people this time then I normally am. Also, on top of this experience, we have still NEVER heard the baby's heart beat during a doctor's appointment. I wanted to make sure the baby was healthy before I shared publically. Here are some excerpts from the email I sent to my Mom telling her of the experience we had with the new baby on August 25:
"I had planned on taking Jaclyn to the airport, then going to my appointment where I would hear the heartbeat and have a quick sonogram. Then I would go to building next to my Dr.s office and pick up Carter's completed medical form, make a clothing donation, get gas in the car, and then return some DVDs to the video store, all while Denise (my neighbor) watched my kids. Jaclyn's plane got changed so she didn't need to be at the airport until after my appointment. So she came with me, but not wanting to be in the room with me while they did a ton of internal stuff, she waited in the waiting room. I went through all of the paperwork, laughing with the nurse practicioner about this being my 4th baby and maybe I should get a prize or frequent visitor's points. I then told her how blessed I was to have this be my 4th pregnancy and to have 3 healthy children from the last 3 pregnancies. She agreed that it is a miracle that I have had no problems in any of the past pregnancies. She asked how I was feeling and I said, "tired and sick, but I'm not as sick as I was with the other kids, I guess my body is just getting used to being pregnant. I'm quesy but I don't throw up too much. I'm mostly just tired all of the time." The doctor then came in and said, happily, "let's get a look at your baby!" She did a sonogram and her first question was, "are you sure about your dates?" I couldn't see the screen, so I didn't know what she was seeing. I told her that I was sure about the dates and told her that I had a dream that the baby was much further along than we thought. She said, "Well, I'm definately NOT seeing that." She then turned the screen so I could see it. all you could see was a small black dot, about 2 inches long with nothing in it. Then you saw off to the side one of my tubes that was cloudy. She explained that black area could be a yolk sac (the placenta and amniotic fluid) but that there should be a baby in it, she said also, that from the cloudiness, it was hard to tell, but that it looked like there could be a developing fetus in my tube. She then said, "I am not a radiologist, so I can't be positive what this all is, but I don't see anything here that looks like a normal pregnancy. I want you to go to the hospital today to get a better sonogram and have a radiologist diagnose what it is going on. They won't tell you anything, so you will leave the hospital not knowing, we want to tell you ourselves, but I won't let you sleep on this, we'll make sure you know tonight. We'll either talk to you on the phone or call you back into the office."
She called the hospital and made a rough appointment for 4pm, but told me that I was an add on, so everyone would get pushed ahead of me when problems came up, so not to count on getting in right at 4. It was now 3pm, I started crying as I called Denise to ask her if she could stay with the children for the rest of the day, she started to cry, being so worried for me and as we got off the phone she said, "I'll pray for you." I was then crying as I got into the waiting room and Jaclyn didn't know what to do.
She drove to the airport, we said good bye and I tried not to get upset as I drove to Reston Hospital. I called Vivian and told her what was happening and she said she would meet me there. I really wanted to get a blessing before we went in, but there wasn't time to get anyone there. (We didn't know I was going to wait at the hospital until 5:15 before they could even see me.) As I drove in the car alone I prayed that everything would be okay. I asked Him specifically for a miracle. I knew what He could do wasn't necessarily what He would do. I then told Him how much I wanted Dave to be with me. With Dave out of the country, I didn't have a way to contact him, I have to wait for him to call me, so I didn't think he would know what was going on until late that night. I got to the hospital, Vivian gave me a hug and it was just nice to have support. Miracle 1: At 4:30, Vivian's phone rang and it was Dave. He had called the house and Denise just told him that I was at the hospital and that his mom was with me. So he called her phone and I was able to tell him what was going on and he said that he didn't care how much it cost in roaming charges, that I needed to call him as soon as I knew what was going on. Why was this a miracle? Because I needed to talk to him. I needed to tell him what was going on. AND he never calls before 8pm when he's in Canada... NEVER. Now he knew to leave his cell phone on, which he doesn't do because of roaming charges when he's out of the country. I was extremely grateful for his call. I said a silent prayer thanking Heavenly Father for sending that impression to Dave that he needed to call home so that I could hear his voice before going in. Finally, the technician called me in and wouldn't let Vivian come with me. The technician was a nice, wonderful lady who handled the situation perfectly for me. She wanted to know if Vivian was my mom, and I said, "no. My mom is in Switzerland and my husband is in Montreal, so I called the next best thing, she's my mother-in-law" The technician said, "It's nice that she cares about you, not all mother-in-laws are like that. I told her that my in-laws are really amazing and I have been extremely blessed. She then asked about my kids. She wanted to know who was watching them and I told her it was my kind neighbor. She kept me talking through the whole first part of the exam and it was always about my blessings. She finished the first part of the exam and said to me, "it sounds like no matter what happens here today, you are a truly blessed person. You have tons of friends, family, and neighbors who love you." She told me that she saw the yolk sac, but also couldn't see anything inside of it. We moved to a different room with a different machine so she could do an internal ultrasound. They have a long skinny stick they can put inside to see what's going on better, but it's still a black and white image, like a regular u/s. She moved it around a bit and still could only see a yolk sac, but no image of a baby inside. She moved the probe in further (highly uncomfortable, had me put my feet down on the table and push off so my bum was in the air. As I'm sitting there uncomfortably, and doing gymnastics on the table, she said, "I need you to turn and look at the screen..." I turned and she said, "This is your baby." There it was. I said, "is it okay?" She said, "it appears to be." I started to cry, again. She had to move the probe in all kinds of horrible positions to be able to see it and could only get a heart beat when she was directly facing it. There was no way the doctor would have been able to do that with the equipment she had. I'm still a little sore from the whole ordeal but it was worth the pain. I even got to see it's little heart beating. She sent me out to the waiting room and said to wait because they would contact the doctor and have her talk to me on the phone there at the hospital. They called her, she got on the phone with me and said, "This a prime example of why if we aren't sure about something, we send you to the experts. We'll see you in 4 weeks at your next appointment. Congratulations."
Vivian started crying, I called Dave, he didn't cry but sounded like he might start. In the car on the way home I prayed again, thanking Heavenly Father for my miracles and blessings. All the way home I sang the song, Count Your Many Blessings... The whole day was emotionally exhausting and a huge testimony builder for me! I am truly thankful for the blessings I have and how the thoughts of those blessings help me through rough times. I am grateful that Heavenly Father watches out for little old me and knows what I need to learn and knows that I will be grateful for learning the lesson without having to actually learn the hard way."

So, you see, I didn't want to rush out and tell the world that I am pregnant, just in case. I have told many, many people, especially those that see me on a regular basis (I'm fairly obvious already, on Sunday I was told, "You look REALLY pregnant today." It's true, I do) but I needed to have this 20 week diagnostic ultrasound before I publically announced. We are excited and looking forward to our new daughter.

A quote from Spencer...

Today, we found out some exciting news and here is Spencer's response...

He pats my tummy and says, "Good job being a girl, Baby."

We are due April 2, 2009, it's a girl.

Hiding, Hair, and 18 month visit (okay, so she was 19 mnths)

This is our new favorite hiding place...

For those that don't think I ever do her hair, I do... she just wiggles a lot, so I can't get it to look nice and then she pulls it out in about 2 minutes or less. I was able to capture a couple times with it done but that's because she was busy drinking and didn't think about pulling it out yet. And no comments on how she's 1.5 years and still drinking from a bottle... I know, I know...

I took her to the doctor this week for her 18 month check-up, but really she is 19 months this week. She is 25lbs. 5oz., which puts her at the 50th percentile for weight. She was 32.5 inches tall which is 75th percentile for height. She's getting big!

The problem with a traveling husband/dad

My husband has had to travel a lot in the last 3 years. We are hoping that this will slow down soon because of his recent promotion. However, the travel has caused some problems with the children...
Problem 1: Spencer likes to play with friends all afternoon, come home, have dinner and then watch TV before bed. When Daddy is home, we have to watch "Daddy shows" and no more "kid shows." Spencer just about has a meltdown on nights when Dave is home. He has even said, "Why aren't you leaving?" or "Why are you here?" So sad that he actually prefers to have his dad gone... (he doesn't prefer it, actually, he loves when Dave is home... he just really likes routine too and gets upset when it is disturbed)
Problem 2: Carter thinks that Dave works at the airport or on an airplane. This came from hearing me say, "Come say goodbye to Daddy, he has to go to work. Give Daddy hugs, he's going to the airport. Be safe on the aiplane, Daddy!" I can see how that would be confusing.
Problem 3: Miana thinks that every phone call is Daddy. When she is pretend playing, she calls Daddy on the phone. She thinks that it is the only way she can talk to him. This is one reason she loves the phone so much, Dave is her favorite person and for most of her life the speaker on the phone sounds mostly like Daddy...
Problem 4: I miss him when he's gone.

Only one more trip this year and then he'll hopefully be around a bit more next year...

Politics and children...

We have had lots of political discussions in our home in the last week or so. This is because of all of the political information my kids are picking up from TV, radio, kids at school, and listening to me talk to various people. One day, Spencer came home and said, "I'm voting for John McCain." Carter heard him and quickly said, "I'm voting for Barak Obama." I then talked to both of them about voting, what it means, and that they should have good reasons for their choices. Neither one could tell me why they wanted that person. Last Thursday was a politically charged day for our family. Carter's friend at school told him, "I'm voting for McCain because Barak Obama is a lier. McCain used to lie, but he doesn't any more." That is a boy who just barely turned 5. Later that afternoon, I got the following email from Spencer's tutor. She is a huge Broncos fan and a McCain supporter. Subject: School Voted Today, "Okay, so I asked the boys who they voted for and why... Ryan said he voted for McCain because he's an old man, Spencer voted for McCain because his parents were voting that way, and this is the best... J.D. voted for Barak Obama because Barak O sounds like Bronco.... perhaps we should indoctrinate our children with something other than the Broncos! ha ha ha!" That evening, we were in the car and I asked Spencer about the school election. He shook his head sadly and said, "Mom (I could hear the dispair in his voice) my school voted for Obama." He seemed so sad and disappointed. He then added, "and JD voted for Barak Obama on accident." It was quite funny how he said everything... I then reminded both boys that you need to have good reasons for who you choose. Spencer asked me why I liked McCain and I told him that I thought McCain could protect our country better than Obama could. He then asked why I didn't like Obama. I told him because Obama wanted to take away our money. So, after that conversation, Carter would tell everyone that Barak Obama wanted to take ALL of money away from us. This morning I told the boys who won the election. Spencer got very nervous and said, "Mom, is he going to take away are money today?" I assured him that we were safe for now and then he said, "Will I still be allowed to play outside?" Oh, the things that worry small children...
For those of you that are worried about me indoctinating my children... I did also talk to both boys about respecting the President even when we don't agree with everything he does.

Halloween: Costumes and Jack-o-lanterns

My boys are really into Star Wars and I am really into theme Halloweens so... Here's Halloween 2008: Luke Skywalker, C3PO, and Princess Leia



Also, we carved Pumpkins: Here's Carter's glowing and Spencer with his...

Carter's Preschool Halloween Party!!

At Carter's school they do a Halloween party where they have the kids dress up, do a costume parade and then have a fun party that the parents are invited to. They had quite the feast (crakers, fruit and about 5 desserts)! The teacher read them a story while they waited for parents to set up the table with treats, it was a great party!