Thursday, June 29, 2006

Sleep!

I'm so unaccustomed to having a baby who will sleep on his own, or even sleep for extended periods of time, that now, while Guthrie (who now does sleep through the night, finally) and Turner are both asleep, I keep getting up every few minutes to check on them. I know Guthrie is okay, but Turner has been asleep, without needing someone next to him or holding him or some device moving him, for 1 1/2 hours. That, as any one who knows me knows, is a longer stretch than Guthrie would sleep for until he was over a year old. So, while I'm greatly enjoying it, I'm also having a hard time really relaxing.

With Guthrie, who was the most non-sleeping baby ever (Eric once kept track, and in a 4 hour stretch, Gus woke up 19 times. 19), I dreaded bedtime, and genuinely looked forward to the sun coming up. He was a joy during the day (was - still is), but a terror at night: constant nursing, constant waking, nobody but Mommy could comfort him.

Turner, on the other hand, makes me look forward to bedtime, and dread the daytime. Okay, so I'm not a vampire who really hates the sun, but he is a great sleeper (if a 5-hour stretch counts as sleeping through the night, he's basically done it since birth), but he screams during the day. It's better than it was, definitely, as at least now he smiles and laughs in between his screaming fits, but the screaming sucks. Makes me feel darn near useless as a mom, too, not being able to comfort my own little boy.

And he doesn't nurse as much as Guthrie ever did, but is growing just as well. He just latches on, gets down to business, and then pops off. No comfort nursing for this guy - it's all about the meal time. Much easier this way.

Sleep is a wonderful thing. I may actually get to know who my husband is again, too.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006



Happy Birthday To Me!

For my birthday, yesterday, I got orange trees. 2 of them. And for the first time in many a holiday, I didn' t guess my present before I got it. We were told they could bear fruit in as little as 2 years, depending on conditions, and I'm very excited that in a few years we'll have to go all the way to the backyard to pick fruit. Eric wants a couple more trees - a Live Oak, and a fruit tree each of the girls picks out. Roz thinks she wants a mango tree, and we'll have to see when Samantha gets here. We might plant a banana tree, too - they're yummy and fairly small.

Also got the complete run of the X-Files on DVD in the mail yesterday. It was perfect that it got here on my birthday. We'd wanted it for years, but it was too expensive. We checked the price again when we sold our house, and it came way down, so we figured we'd go for it.

Turner's hours upon hours of colicky screaming finally broke us, and we bought a swing. We didn't want to - neither of us wanted to be "baby gadget" kind of people - but we were desperate. A human being just isn't designed to keep a baby in that steady motion. (Maybe we are, but we're not used to it.) The car, a walk in the sling, any motion calmed him. So we got the swing. Now, if he starts to cuss me out, I strap him into the swing. Instead of an hour of yelling at mom, it's about 30 seconds of fussing, and then a nice, sweet, peaceful sleep.

How did the human race survive without baby gadgets?

Eric's brother Mitch is not going to make it to see us. We're all terribly disappointed, and so Rosalind is going to go home early, so she can celebrate the 4th with her mom. They actually do a big celebration, unlike us, who may be at home in bed with little ones before it's even dark enough for fireworks.

I noticed, here, wth us whiteys being the minority, there are lots of differences. Mostly I like them. The newspaper didn't say "Happy Independence Day," it said, "Happy Fourth of July." Because there is a large - majority -Mexican population, and they celebrate another Independence Day as well.

We're still loving it down here. You don't want to go out too much in the heat of the day, but early morning and early evening walks are beautiful.

I've lost well over half of my baby weight - down about 35 pounds. Only about 15 more to go. Fitting back into my clothes now, mostly.

Ah, the swing has lost its magic. Turner is screaming again. Bye-bye.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Whole Grain Crunch

Well, I'm not nearly as crunchy as I thought:

Do you have homebirths?
15 points for “yes” (unassisted)
10 points for “yes” (with a midwife in attendance)
5 points for alternative birthing center
2 points for “thinking about/would like homebirth”
0 for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Will you circumcise future sons?
5 points for “no”
-5 points for “yes”.

Do you use cloth diapers?
20 point if you do Elimination Communication (no diapers)
15 points if “yes” (wash and make your own)
10 points if “yes” (wash your own)
5 points if “yes” (diaper service)
2 points if “thinking about it”
0 points if “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you observe your fertility signals using Natural FamilyPlanning/Fertility Awareness and use that for birth control/trying to conceive?
10 points for “yes” (observe and use for birth control/ttc) or you use ecologicalbreastfeeding/lactational amnorrhea
5 points for “yes” (observe for trying to conceive)
2 points “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you breastfeed exclusively for the first 6+ months?
10 points if “yes”
5 points for “no” (use occasional bottles of expressed breastmilk)
2 points for “no” (use occasional bottles of formula)
0 for “no” (don’t breastfeed by choice).

Do you co-sleep/family bed?
10 points for “yes” (all night every night)
5 points for “yes” (part/all of most nights)
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no”.

Do you use a sling/soft carrier?
5 points for “yes”
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you believe in/practice child-led weaning(even if that means breastfeeding for several years)?
15 points for “yes” (complete child-led weaning)
10 points for “yes” (up to 3 years)
5 points for “yes” (up to 2 years)
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (you’ll wean the baby at 1 year or earlier).

Do you tandem nurse/nurse during your pregnancy?
10 points for “yes” (nurse during pgcy and tandem nurse)
5 points for “yes” (nurse during pgcy, but wean before birth)
2 points for “thinking about it”0 points for “no”(wouldn’t consider it).

Do you eat organic/whole/natural foods and limit your meat?
15 points for “yes” (grow own/buy organic, shop only at health food store,grind own wheat, vegetarian, etc.)
10 points for “yes” (grow some of own food, buy organic,use whole wheat flour, bake own bread, eat some meat occasionally)
5 points for “yes” (try to buy natural, whole grain foods, etc.)2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you use herbal/homeopathic remedies?
10 points if “yes” (very rarely see a regular doctor)
5 points if “yes” (but use a doctor occasionally)
2 points if “thinking about it” (see a doc for now)
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

Do you homeschool?
10 points if “yes” (currently homeschool)
5 points for “yes” (will homeschool)
2 points for “thinking about it”
0 points for “no” (wouldn’t consider it).

What's your take on childhood vaccinations?
15 points for no vaccines
10 for delayed, selective vaccination
5 points for selective, on schedule vaccination
2 points for thinking about not vaccinating
0 points for vaxing on schedule.

Would you/have you ever breastfeed/fed someone else's babyor have someone else bf your child?
10 points if yes (have or someone has bf your baby)
5 points if yes (would)
2 points if maybe
0 if no (wouldn't consider it).

Do you use cloth/re-usable products for mom?
10 points if yes (make own)
5 points if yes (buy own)
2 points if thinking about it
0 points if no

Ratings120 – 140 Super Nutty, Ultra-Crunchy Granola Earth Mama
90 – 119 Mmm! Love that whole-grain crunch!
60 – 89 Pretty Crispy
20 – 59 Sprinkled with Granola
5 – 19 Instant Oatmeal
0 - 4 Jell-O


I scored about a 100. give or take. (I can do the math, but some of the points could be more or less exact)

My answers, if you're curuous:

1. 10 points (midwife assisted homebirth)
2. 5 points No circ (we actually have one of each - got it right the second time - why mess with mother nature)
3. 2 points - thinking about cloth (or EV) after things get settled
4. 0 points I have an IUD. I like artificial hormones. But if my PMS weren't so unbearable, I might do NFP.
5. 10 points for ebfing first 6 months. Yes, Turner has had a couple bottles, but I doubt he'll get any more, and
I really don't see why the point difference.
6. 10 points All-night co-sleepers. Do I get double points for 2 kids?
7. 5 points. Love my sling. I think I should get extra for having made my own. Click here to see Guthrie and The Amazing Technicolor Dream Sling.
8. 10 points or so. In theory I like child-led weaning. I have set some major limits with Guthrie though, and I think 3 is about my limit. But I originally said we were done at a year, so who knows?
9. 10 points - I'm a tandem milk-machine
10. 10 points - almost a health food nut. We've been eating too much meat lately though, and Eric has fallen in love with pre-cooked, frozen bacon. Me - not so much.
11. 10 points We're down with the herbs. (Not that one!)
12. 5 points The boys aren't going near public schools. Eric taught teachers - I know how smart they (generally, Bekki excluded ;) aren't.
13. 10 points Delayed some vax
14. 5 points Under the right circumstances. It killed me to see those starving babies after Katrina - I wanted to nurse them all!
15. 2 points The Mirena should take care of most of the need, but if not, I'm considering cloth.

Now that you know more about me than you ever wanted to, does this look like a crunchy granola earth mama?

Friday, June 23, 2006


The view from a few minutes ago. If you look carefully, you'll see a double rainbow. A full double - it stretches all the way across the great big Texas sky.
Turner had his 2 month appt. last week. I think I like the pediatrician we picked. She started to give me the advice on breastfeeding as long as possible, and I just had to laugh, and let her know it was a lecture I didn't need - assured her Turner would still be getting the good stuff at his one year.

He weighed 12 pounds 12 ounces, and was 23 inches long. His colic, or whatever it is, hasn't passed yet. I've told Eric if I ever start talking about another baby, he is to yell at me for 3-4 hours aday, wake me at random intervals throughout the night, and spill milk on the shoulders of all my clothes. If, after a few weeks of that, I still want another baby, then we can talk.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Just pictures for now
.



Friday, June 16, 2006

Guthrie likes it here:



Turner thinks moving in is exhausting:



Our house:

Guthrie helping Daddy:

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

We're here!!!!!

But every time I try to actually update this site one of the boys wakes up. Or I decide it's more important to sleep (I'm such a bum). I'm currently typing one-handed while nursing Turner - multitasking!

So, pictures first:

Me with Turner at my class reuniuon, June 3rd


Guthrie being a ham


Turner, not crying


The mess we currently live in. Unpacking with a 2 year old and high-needs (read: screams much of the day) infant is not easy. I imagine the house won't lookmuch different for awhile.


Great pic of Stacia and Guthrie (and Roz, Sammie, Turner and me)


What else? I'm not completely cool with posting our new address here (yeah, I know you can find it easy enough if you want it, but why make it any easier? kwim), but we have a new e-mail, that I've set up to go to all of us, so if you want any combination of the family to see it, send it here. We're keeping our old e-mails, so if you just want it to go to Eric or Judy you can still do that. E-mail me and I'll send you our new address and phone number. Our cell numbers are staying the same.

I'll take and post pictures of the house when I can. And of the area - it's beautiful, and I have to admit, as much as I still don't really believe we bought a McHouse, where the EXACT SAME HOUSE is three doors down, I like not having a fixer-upper, and like having options! We don't ever have to shop at Wal-Mart again! We have independent, locally-owned stores! There is a taqueria on every corner! The produce is shipped in all the way from, well, the farm on the edge of town!

And have I mentioned we're only an hour from South Padre Island? Um, yeah, eat your hearts out. ;)

I've also added (or am going to attempt to add) a weather pixie to my little blog, so you can see the horrible weather here. Like when it's freezing rain in Missouri, or a tornado is about to blow through, you can see just how awful it is here. Although I think it'll be pretty uneventful - I think little miss weather pixie will be scantily clad most of the time.

Guthrie is awake and it's time for dinner. I'll post more in a few days when I get a chance.