peelosophy

My sister Katie lives in Colorado with her husband Carl and two girls, Tootie and Brooke. Over the past few months, they’ve probably visited the ER every week with one of them being very sick and the fire department has had to come out a couple of times because of sickness or crazy kid mishaps.

This week it was the fire department, which they are now on a first name basis with them. Brooke (2-1/2) managed to get her finger caught in a Starbucks cup and they couldn’t get it out. I know right?!?! How does that happen and why couldn’t they get it out?!?!

I wasn’t a disposable cup, I tried to find a picture of it on the web but couldn’t. It was a reusable glass cup that had a glass domed lid and a hole for the straw. The hole is where Brooke’s finger got stuck. She put it over her knuckle, Katie and Carl tried several things but they couldn’t get it off.

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I am feeling like I am almost completely out of the postpartum fog I’ve been in for the last two months.  I feel great, things are getting done that weren’t getting done the last couple months (i.e. Mt.Washmore) and I am optimistic about our future as a family of six.  Now, I understand this feeling may only last until tomorrow morning – but I’ll take it.

I was reflecting back today about several key things that got me through the last few months and I thought I’d share them with you.

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Our baby swing broke this morning while Emma was mid-swing.  It snapped at the hinges and she abruptly dropped to the floor.  She made a face like she was about to holler, but then stopped and looked around as if to say, “whatever this works too”.  And she just sat in the swing on the floor until we were ready to leave.  That’s my girl, roll with it and we’ll get along alright.

The swing was a hand-me-down when we got it for JJ.  Then it was worked to the bones through all the boys, the other kids I watch and several 3 and 4 year olds that took it for a ride every now and again.  It had a good long life.

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We are getting off a week of being sick.  The only one coming away from it relatively unscathed was John.  Henry, JJ and I had strep, George has a viral infection and Emma had a little cough and rattle.

In my opinion, one of the most frustrasting things about the kids getting sick is that I never know for sure how sick they really are – how much of our lives do I need to cancel? I struggle with questions like if it is worthy of a doctor’s visit or should they go or not not go to school, should I cancel the kids that I watch over here?

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Friends are always amazed when George talks because he doesn’t talk a lot in public.  At home however, he talks a TON.  There are two things he says a lot now which I love.

The first is when I am feeding Emma, he will hand me my breast pad and say, “Here’s your cap mommy, put your cap back on.”  I never thought of them as caps…maybe someone should contact the marketing department of Johnson and Johnson.

The second is when he wants to be held, he says, “Mommy, I want to hold you, I want to hold you.” This is way more refreshing than the demanding “Mommy hold me, hold me”  And I like it when he “does the holding” cause what mom doesn’t want to be held?

First of all, my apologies, it’s been almost three months since my last post.  I didn’t even give you a “Dear John” letter or reassurance that my kids didn’t have me tied up somewhere or that I wasn’t in a lock down somewhere.

We are alive, Emma is here (!) and amazing and we are persevering as a new family of six..  Honestly, part of the reason I haven’t posted is because I felt like I had to fill you on on every detail that I haven’t posted about in the last three months and frankly that made me too tired thinking about it.

So I’m going to jump in where we are and of course I’ll fill you in on Emma and her entrance into our lives as we go.  So check back and I’ll keep posting!

I’ve had lots of nesting desires the last couple weeks – but really nowhere to nest since Emma doesn’t have a room right now.  So my urges have been put to good use in closets, friend’s basements, drawers and lots of to-do lists.

One of my favorite friends and blogs is Cary’s blog, I’ve Got a List for That.  It’s amazing to me how much I learn from her lists, from what to buy at Whole Foods to learning about her kids.  And I am always so impressed how diligent she is about blogging.  Anyways, I wanted to make a list of the things I want/need for Emma, it’s all in my head now and when the time comes I know it will have left my brain.

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Transitions for the kids always make me nervous and then it turns out to be no big deal.  Transitions meaning from bottle to sippy cup, from two naps to one nap, potty-training, etc.

Right now, we are going cold turkey with George’s pacifier.  He only takes one for nap and bedtime but JJ and Henry never used one,  so I don’t really know how to master this transition. George only started to use one when he turned one-year-old, a little weird, but all his teeth came in at once and it seemed to help him in his state of misery.

So here we are 6 weeks before Emma is to be born and I am thinking the time is now for the pacifier to go.  Although, it may not be enough time before she is born to enter this transition with him, I’m calling it now. We are trying it for a week and if it’s a fluke, then we’ll try again in February.

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I received a coupon for a “free pumpkin pie” with purchase of $10 or more at Kirkwood Farmer’s Market. I was all about it because I needed to bring a dessert for house group that evening. Plus, they have little tractors for the kids to ride and a playground – so it could kill some time.  Kirkwood Farmer’s Market is overpriced in my opinion, you pay for the scenery and the idea you are going to a farmer’s market, but I rationalized this with the free pie and little field trip.

After we played for a bit, we headed into the market where I carefully picked 2 packs of Carmel Happy Apples (3.89/each!) and a 12 ounces of candy corn ($3.49!).  We made our way to the register where I told the sales lady I had my coupon for the “free pumpkin pie” and asked where I should get it.  She corrected me with, “Oh,  you mean the free pie pumpkin?, you can pick one from the pile out front.”  To make it seem like I was less of the dyslexic dope that I tend to be, I answered with, “Oh, that’s what I meant. ” Of course, right?  And what the heck is a pie pumpkin?

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So that blogging break was l little longer than a week!  I didn’t even read any blogs for three weeks – crazy!

A couple things happened that lead up to the break…

- I had a sinus infection that lasted 8 weeks and is thankfully gone

- John was doing a lot of freelance, so the computer was being used in the evenings

- I’ve been trying to take it down a notch with our lives.  When I figured out that most of my expectations were self-imposed, it was hard to start saying no to things that I find enjoyable but didn’t necesarily “have-to” do.  This theme is continuing in our lives while we anticipate the arrival of little Emma, but I’m bringing blogging back into the mix.

What about you…am I the only one that has self-imposed expectations of how things “should” go or what I “need” to do?