Engineers

It's a good thing John decided to take this term off from school, because everyone in the company received this email the other day:

"We have been cleared on nine new projects over the past week, so the relaxed workload of the past few weeks (Carrie's question: What relaxed workload??) will be turned into an extremely busy workload for the next 2-3 months (Carrie's thought: Goodbye, husband!). Please plan your schedules accordingly (Carrie's interpretation: Bring sleeping bags and toothbrushes.)."

On top of that, John was given an extra job (about 16 hours worth) of data entry work that he gets to bring home with him. I am happy that he gets to bring it home, so it will slightly minimize the extra time spent in the office. Plus, it's extra $$ that we could really use now that it's become very apparent that we need a 2nd car.

As much as I'm not looking forward to losing my husband for 2-3 months (no joke; we're talking very real 12 hour work days), I am extremely thankful that he's in a line of work that isn't being affected one bit by the economy. And now I'm off to do a recovery attempt on my home, since one day of being sick meant my sons turned into wrecking balls for the occasion.

Make-up

This is what happens when mommy is sick, daddy is at work, and the boys are entertaining themselves. Nathan ends up being held to the floor by Aiden and getting "make-up" applied with a marker. He didn't complain and was actually smiling when it happened. But oh goodness. For those of you out there with only one child, keep this in mind when you're contemplating having another one! :^)

Sleep Baby Sleep

The process of getting a baby to sleep through the night, sleep in his crib, or go to sleep on his own is one of those subjects that everyone has an opinion about. Which makes the difficulty we've been having with Nathan a little more difficult because I don't really feel like I can discuss it with anyone without getting huge amounts of "you should do this" sort of advice. It seems like sleep, oddly enough, is a hot topic among parents and even people who've never dealt with a baby. Some are very much in favor of letting the baby cry it's way throughout the night, others will allow some crying, and then others don't allow crying at all. And everyone is convinced that their way is the best way.

I prefer no crying. Actually it's more of a necessity for me rather than a preference. I can't handle it. While just setting him in his crib and walking away does seem pretty easy, hearing my child's response to it is extremely stressful and then the whole thing isn't quite so easy anymore. I know the Ferber method is extremely popular, but I just can't bring myself to do it. It's strange how some people will try to make you feel like an idiot for not doing it: "Well, I did it and my child turned out just fine.", "Just do it and you'll be convinced it's the right way.". That's great if it works for other people, but it's just not something I can do. Back when Aiden was a baby, I brought this up with his pediatrician (who was FANTASTIC in every way!). I told him that I had tried it with Aiden and something about it just didn't feel right with me. Not to mention that Aiden acted like a completely different child the following day (and not in a good way). He just looked at me and said, "Then don't do it. Just because it's right for someone else doesn't mean it's right for you.". Wow. Ok.

So, I'm working on the Pantley method/The No-cry Sleep Solution. It takes a lot more work, interaction, and dedication than the Ferber method and I realize that it's going to take a little longer for it to really work, but if I don't have to hear my child scream for an hour, I'll do it.
I'm beginning to see a change in Nathan's sleep habits, which is great. He stays asleep when I transfer him to his crib and he's staying asleep for longer periods. He's also not needing to be nursed back to sleep quite so much when he does wake up. He's been settling back down with a a "ssshhh" and a pat on the tummy. While him staying the entire night in his crib may be a little way off still, I am definitely encouraged by the progress that we are making.

It took a while with Aiden and it will probably take a while with Nathan, but Aiden has better sleep habits than a lot of kids his age, so I think it's worth it in the long run. Even though my last full night of sleep was January 13, I'm pretty sure I will sleep through the night again soon. And while I'll love it, part of me will miss those nighttime nursing sessions with my little baby.

Neglectful!

I have been neglecting you all and I'm sorry. If you've noticed, this is only my 2nd blog post since Aiden started school. This whole preschool thing seems to be adding a new level of confusion and general chaos to our lives. It was actually supposed to make things a little easier, but maybe it will just take a while to get used to.

I guess when we signed him up, I thought dropping him off at school twice a week wouldn't add too much to my life. Now I realize that it takes much more than that. Having just one car, I have to get the kids up and ready to get John to work on time on Mondays and Wednesdays. Then I load them out of the car by myself (much harder than it sounds when you're carrying a 20 pound baby, trying to get a toddler to actually follow direction, and your parking spot is around on the opposite side of the building from your front door) and back into the car to get Aiden to school. Then there's having to bring them home and then leave again a few hours later to pick up John from work. I can't help but think having a 2nd car would greatly reduce all this coming and going with two small children, but it's not like we can really afford to buy another car right now.
Getting Aiden in to his classroom isn't difficult; he loves being there. Trying to get him to come home is a challenge that we are working on. He screams and kicks when it's time to leave. Since I pick him up by myself, I've had to get the boys out to the car with Aiden kicking and screaming under one arm and Nathan wiggling around under the other arm, trying to see what his brother is doing.
Yesterday was a test day for me. I picked up 'No Cry Discipline Solution' from the library and there is a small section on how to deal with this very thing. I followed her advice and we had a tantrum-free departure from preschool! Now, I'm hoping that changing the way I collected him from school DID make a difference, but his teacher also ended the day a little differently and I think that also contributed to the change in his behavior. I just hope it continues!

This school gives a discount in tuition if you parent-help twice a month. So, in order to save some money, I signed up for the parent-help tuition. So far, it's causing more of a headache than anything else and I'm slowly beginning to wonder if sacrificing my sanity is worth saving $50 a month. The initial plan was for John to take half-days on Wednesdays (his boss's recommendation for keeping John's stress level down - things have been crazy there lately) and so I would parent help on two Wednesdays out of the month.

My first parent help day was fast approaching and my husband notified me that he actually had a training session that afternoon and couldn't watch the baby. BAH! I had to quickly find a sitter who was willing to watch an 8 month old for four hours, keeping in mind that he still nurses frequently. In hopes of avoiding them same situation, I emailed John the 2nd date of my parent help. I then received an email back saying that he had a meeting that afternoon and I would need to find a sitter again. DOUBLE BAH!! It's tomorrow and I've talked my lovely mother-in-law into babysitting (thank you!!). I am wondering if all the extra driving around to get Nathan to and from a babysitter while I parent-help is really saving us all that much money. Not to mention that Aiden doesn't seem to like it when I stay in his class for the day! I'm going to give it another round of parent-help days before I decide that it's not worth it or that I need to cut it down to one parent-help day a month (which I think still provides a small discount).

The preschool chaos has made me realize that I need a better schedule for our lives every week, so I have begun creating a weekly menu. This also makes sure that I actually use everything in my fridge and freezer before it goes bad, keeping me from basically throwing money into the garbage. So far, it's working well and I'm having some fun with it. I have had to make some last minute changes when plans for our day go a little off track, but having the menu posted on the fridge allows me to come up with a fast alternative when I need to. I take my toddler-free Monday afternoons to do whatever grocery shopping needs to be done for that week, getting all the fresh veggies, fruits, and milk. I noticed that the veggies start to look a little yucky at the end of one week and we tend to drink a gallon of milk each week, so a weekly shopping trip seemed to make the most sense. I'm waiting to see if it saves us a significant amount of money in the longrun. So far, I spent my set grocery budget in two weeks, but we hadn't been grocery shopping in nearly three weeks prior to that, so I had a lot of stocking up to do. But this does help me to create an effective list of the things that we really do need instead of just going in and blindly buying stuff that I "might" use. I also give myself something to look forward to each week, as I treat myself to lunch from the deli when I do my grocery shopping. The Fred Meyer deli makes these fantastic chicken salad croissant sandwiches that I've been getting each week.

Well, I have so much more to say, but a hungry baby and piles of laundry await. Until next time then...

A bit of a blog-jam

I made up the word blog-jam to describe how I'm a little backed up on blogging. I have so much to write about, but so very little time lately. We've had an interesting couple of weeks and I will definitely get around to writing all about it and sharing all of our pictures. Hopefully tomorrow....but unfortunately laundry comes first, so we'll see if I have any time left over in my day!

Aiden's 3rd birthday is coming up soon and I am working on getting things organized for that. Not to mention that I have turned into one of those moms who actually does stuff outside of the home. I felt like a bit of a shut-in before, but at least I wasn't so thoroughly worn out. Staying home with the kids all day definitely exhausts me mentally, but now I'm physically exhausted on top of that.

Oh, so much to say and not enough brain power to do it. I'm off to wash my hair and get to bed. I have a much-needed day at home tomorrow (except for a parents meeting at Aiden's preschool in the evening), and I'm looking forward to a slower pace for a day. I'll write again soon.

Aiden's first day of preschool!

Practicing his coloring while waiting to go get in the car and head to school!

Aiden's first day of school was a very busy one. We had to take John to work so I could go pick up some jackets from a lady in Sherwood, then Aiden got carsick on the way home from Sherwood and projectile vomited all over the backseat. Being the nice big brother that he is, he turned himself away from the baby. We came home and changed him into a 2nd set of school clothes, got his school supplies together, and drove back to pick John up. John's been working half days on Wednesdays and this worked out great for him being there for Aiden's first day.

Looking a little uneasy about this whole going to school thing. But he loves his new Thomas the Tank Engine backpack!

We arrived at the school about 5 minutes before his class was scheduled to start and there were already some kids in there, coloring and playing. Aiden went right in to play with the train set and didn't look back to see if we were hanging around. I signed him in and put all of his supplies in the designated bins, and then tried to get a few pictures while my child ignored me.

Playing in the sand bin! Gotta get dirty in the first couple minutes.

Painting so very well! He was very pleased with using only orange, but we finally showed him that he could use purple too. These little hands are going to be name tags for them, so we probably won't get to bring them home until the end of the school year. I'm really excited about all the little crafts he'll bring home to me!

Every single parent was just sitting there, hovering over their child, and so John and I stayed for about 20 minutes. I finally decided that there was no point to staying any longer, as Aiden had barely looked at us since we came in the door. So we said goodbye and headed out, confident that Aiden wouldn't even notice that we were gone. John and I had some things to discuss and we were hungry, so we took the opportunity to go out to lunch.
We had a yummy lunch at Chevy's (if you ever go there for lunch, their lunch duos are amazing! Especially their chicken quesadilla!) and then popped over to Target for a few things. We went back to Aiden's school, but we were still a full half hour early, so we just sat in the car. I found a shady spot to park and John snoozed while I nursed the baby.
Around 3:30, we headed in to find the class all playing outside in the sandbox. This school has an amazing playground for the kids and Aiden was thoroughly enjoying himself. Aiden had gotten quite red in the face from the warm sun, but seemed very pleased with the day. He didn't want to leave. But John had a dentist appointment, so we had to head out.

Very happy (and a little sunburned) after his first day of school!!!

We finished off our incredibly full day with a trip to Fred Meyer to pick up some salad and strawberries, a visit to the library to get some original Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, and then lots of snacking on the couch while watching the season premiere of Bones (my favorite show). We were all thoroughly worn out and while I was able to get John out of bed to get to work on time, the boys and I slept in until 10:30 this morning. Aiden's next day of school is Monday and I think he's looking forward to it already!

Our new additions

We have two new additions to our family. Please welcome our new mice, Buffy and Phoenix. Buffy is the white one, Phoenix is the brown one.
After our guinea pig passed away due to the recent heat wave, we spent some time figuring out what to get as a pet. I have always had pets and I feel a little lonely without an animal (yes, I know I have a husband and two children), so John's suggestion to be without a pet for a while didn't settle well with me. Plus, I think it's good for the boys to learn how to handle animals early on.
We decided that we should probably wait on guinea pigs until we have a house and are able to provide them with a larger place to roam than an old fishtank. I had a dwarf hamster as a child, so I thought we could go the hamster/gerbil route. We did discuss a cat (which I've been wanting ever since Aiden was a baby), but John wants to wait a little while longer.

Saturday, we took a trip over to Petco to browse the little animals. Their selection of hamsters and gerbils was surprisingly poor and John wandered over to the hoards of mice they had. We watched them for a while and I had to agree that they were awfully cute, even though they had tails (I have a small thing against hairless tails). So, we picked out two females and brought them home, saving them from becoming snake food (essentially what they're sold for and probably why they cost only $2). We had fun picking out a little wheel and a house for their cage. They adore the wheel and must run about two miles a day on the thing. They will occasionally sit on top of their house and squeak loudly, proclaiming their dominance over the plastic igloo. The boys love watching them, as they are much more active than the poor guinea pig.

I still shake my head at the fact that John was able to convince me to get mice. He used to work in research and would inject mice on a regular basis, so he is used to handling them. Once we brought Buffy and Phoenix home, he said he was surprised how much he missed playing with mice. I have held Buffy once and didn't flip out over her tail touching me, so I guess I can take this new adventure of mice ownership as a chance to get over my fear of hairless tails.

To end, tomorrow is Aiden's first day of preschool and I have a small stack of enrollment paperwork to finish before then. We will definitely take some photos of his first day and share them with you. I will stay behind the camera, so that there is no evidence of me crying as I send my baby off to school.