drawing for a free sling and swaddling set

Hi all,

I came across this drawing to enter and win a free Sakura Bloom Linen Ring Sling AND some Aden and Anais Muslin Swaddling Blankets. Go check it out!

hungry for lunch only minutes after breakfast is over

I think that Lydia would eat every waking hour of the day if I let her. More often than not, we finish breakfast, and then she immediately starts asking for lunch. Her pronunciation of both words is so cute, though. The best way I can think of to write them phonetically is "breh-sis" and "yutch" lol. Video to come shortly so you can hear it for yourself. :)

Ok here's the video now. :)

job hunt is over already

I don't have a ton of information on it yet, but Tim went out for an interview this afternoon and decided to work for an energy company, doing door to door sales. We are very excited that God has provided this opportunity so soon for us. Thanks to everyone who was keeping us in your prayers.

I'm trying to do the crafting thing again. I found a tutorial online on how to make newborn gowns out of adult-sized T-shirts, and have a stack of T-shirts. I've made a couple of gowns so far and they are turning out SO cute. I'll post a few pictures once I get some more done. I've also been doing some more crocheting. I have a bunch of wool yarn with which to make diaper covers, and am in the middle of making a "patchwork" one for Lydia. Some of her plastic covers are a little too small for her bulky nighttime diaper, so this patchwork one will be for her at night. It's coming along quite nicely. :)

she doesn't know what a screwdriver is for

For the past couple of months, I have been attending a Bible study on Friday mornings. The teacher of the study has two grown boys and no daughters, and still has quite a few "boy toys" that Lydia and the children of the other students like to play with during the study.

This past Friday, Lydia found a tiny plastic screwdriver. She held that in one hand, by the "metal" part, and held another small plastic something-or-other in her other hand. She'd touch the handle of the screwdriver to the other piece, then put the handle to her eyebrow. She likes to watch when I put on makeup, and in amongst the bins of "boy" toys, she'd managed to find herself an eyeshadow applicator. LOL. It was really cute.

She also was with me for my most recent prenatal appointment, and when we were listening to the heartbeat, I asked her if she heard that. She said, "the baby's talking!" It's really so amazing to see the world through her eyes.

Potty training is still a no-go. She'll sit on it every now and then w/ no results, same as she has for months, but I think she's starting to be aware of when she's just gone. I still don't have any hope for her training before the baby comes, but maybe this winter something will happen.

job hunting begins again, for the third time this year

I am seriously nearly at the breaking point with the never-ending string of instability since we moved to Dallas two years ago. I don't know what God wants for us or what He has planned for us or when He'll tell us. I DO know that He'll take care of us and provide for our basic needs, and only our basic needs. I need to be content with that. We will likely never be materially rich. Our 800 sq ft apartment with only a concrete patio for a "yard" for the children to play in will have to suffice. It at least is a roof over our head that doesn't leak... at least, it usually doesn't leak. I feel so out of place among my peers sometimes, you know, the ones who regularly get their hair done and live in a neighborhood that has grass and sidewalks and fences and is in a residential area instead of right on a busy street. The odds are not in my favor that I will ever be in that niche.

But do I want to be? Time to change my tune. The "woe is me" part of this entry is OVER! Listen to all the blessings I have. I have a godly husband who sincerely WANTS to be able to support me and the children, and he gets more proactive and motivated to look for a job with each unemployment that happens. He also is a wonderful spiritual leader to our daughter, and prays with her every night before she goes to bed. I do have a place to live, even though it's not my "dream home," it's home, and I can work to make it a dream. I am to keep it (Titus 2:5). I have a daughter who thinks the world of me and wants to be with me and imitate me... am I making sure to show her a good example every day? I have a HUGE loving spiritual family who doesn't care about my outward appearance. I have a second child on the way whom God has sent to bless our family, and he/she is already doing so, as Tim and I enjoy "playing" with him/her and feeling the kicks and movements. I have a crafting business that doesn't yield a ton of income (yet), but I so enjoy making those items that make people happy.

As for Tim's job, when I started this post, I was near tears in wondering what the future would hold and upset at the reasons that he was given for being let go. My tears are dry now. The future holds what it holds. Tim will look for opportunities, and perhaps the very next door that opens, whenever it may be, will be the door that offers exactly what we need. And only God knows what that is. I accept that He will make His plans known to us in His time, not ours. I am at peace.

more growth in the garden

My hanging garden is growing even more. The cucumber plant is almost to the ground, 4.5 feet long, and the tomato plant is growing in a very defined U-shape. And... BOTH have blossoms, finally. I was wondering if I had really gotten a tomato plant or if it was just going to be a vine. Hopefully by the end of June I'll start having some veggies.



Lydia continues to be entertaining. She's a little particular about how her blanket and her doll are arranged when she goes to sleep, though. In addition to what you can see in the video, I also inadvertently laid down the doll with her hand very slightly under the blanket another time, and when Lydia laid down, she noticed it, and had to correct it before she could go to sleep.


She also is learning how to spell. Well, not really, but she's trying. She brought me one bib today that said "let's do lunch" on it, and I let her know that's what it said. A minute or so later, she brought me a second bib. This one said "puppy love" on it. Lydia pointed to the words and said, "R-E-E-R-E... lunch!" She was so pleased with herself.

i am showing enough that strangers notice now

Tim's family was in town over the weekend, and we all went out to the zoo for the day. It was hot and crowded, but we had fun. Lydia got so tired that she fell asleep about 5 minutes into the ride home. That is VERY unusual b/c I can't remember the last time she's fallen asleep in the car, especially if she's not alone in the backseat (which she wasn't this time). But anyway, while on one of the bathroom breaks at the zoo, I was standing in line, and the woman right in front of me noticed that I was pregnant and offered to let me go first b/c of that. I didn't need to all that badly, so I declined, but it was still so sweet of her to offer. :)

My pains that I was having a few weeks ago have lessened, and when I asked my care provider about them, she said that it was likely just ligament pain. I am glad that the pain is gone. However, I have already developed a slight waddle because of the loosening ligaments. I don't remembering waddling at ALL with Lydia, even at the very end, so it's a strange feeling to have it so early this time.

I have been having extremely strange pregnancy dreams as well. Last night, I dreamed that I was a young professional, and was sitting in an audience for a presentation. A bunch of my high school classmates were also in the audience. My supervisor had told me that one of my job duties was to ask a relevant question during the presentation (a microphone was being passed around). I kept missing my chance to do so, b/c someone else would ask a question before I got up the nerve to stand up. Then during a lunch break, I was in line behind two guys, and there was a tray with sandwiches w/ lettuce and tomatoes on it, and each guy grabbed two of the last four sandwiches, leaving the tray empty and me w/o a sandwich. I was about to get really upset and ask for them to give me one of their sandwiches, lol, but then I noticed an entire new covered tray full of the same sandwiches. After eating, but still during the break, I overheard one of my barely-showing classmates talking to some people about her pregnancy, and how she found out that it's a boy. This is the second "baby boy" dream that I've had, and I've only had one girl dream this time.

I had my ultrasound appointment on the 20th, and the technician was amazing. So was the equipment. We were able to see incredible detail, a lot MORE detail than we saw with Lydia. Everything looked great with the baby and its environment. It still has a ton of room in there, b/c we saw it moving all over and wiggling but I didn't feel a thing. Here's a few of the pictures we got to take home, followed by my 20-week tummy.

Feet:


Profile:

toddler fun and not so fun

A brief update on the pregnancy. We had another appointment and it went well. Baby was swimming all over the place so it was hard to grab the heartbeat, and every time we did, it was tiny and faint. Finally we were able to pick it up nice and strong. It's in the 150s. I've gained 11 lbs so far, so if I keep up that rate, I'll gain less than I did w/ Lydia. It makes sense since when I was pregnant with her, I had nobody to chase around and take care of. She is "helping" me burn some extra calories. I must remember to eat more. During the appointment, Tim also got to see the baby kick. There was a big kick, enough to make a little flutter on the outside of my tummy, and he happened to be looking right in that spot. We also scheduled my ultrasound for the 20th, and we are still planning on not finding out.

As for toddler fun, I love love LOVE the cute little ways that Lydia says certain words/phrases. Here are a few of her latest ones.

"nuffin" (muffin)
"butterjelly" (peanut butter and/or jelly... i.e. in the grocery store today, I pointed to just the display of jelly, and she still calls that "butterjelly.")
"shopping groceries" (grocery shopping)
"pooghetti" (spaghetti)
"poojamas" (pajamas)
"princess hat sticker" and "princess hat jammies" (for her 2nd birthday party, one of the activities was making princess hats, so now anything that has a princess on it isn't just a "princess sticker"... it's a "princess hat sticker" even though there are usually no hats in the stickers.)
"nermaid" (mermaid)

Now for the toddler not-so-fun. I've been seriously stressing and worrying about potty training. What if I start too early, what if I start too late, what if she has trouble and it takes years, what if she never gets out of diapers, etc. I've read both Diaper Free before Three and the 3-Day Method E-book, and neither one seems like it would work for us. The methods in the former are geared for MUCH younger children, and for the 3-day method, we can't really do that b/c we don't have three consecutive days in our schedule where nothing is going on. I keep trying to just do a "waiting" method where maybe she will just eventually catch on by example, but months go by w/o her ever showing any further "signs of readiness" (or any at all, really) and the stress cycle starts again.

But anyway. Occasionally when I wake her up from her nap, her diaper is dry-ish. (If she wakes up by herself, then it's already wet 99% of the time when I go and get her.) Yesterday, I woke her up from her nap, and she was dry, so I suggested she go sit on the potty. She got excited and said "Want to go sit on Lydia's little potty??" and I said yes, so I sat her down on the floor and she walked to the bathroom and sat down on it. I sat down on the big potty (closed lid) and waited with her. After less than a minute, I heard some action. I got excited and said "Wow, Lydia, that's peepee! You are putting peepee in the potty!" She stopped briefly and got a bit of a worried look on her face, but I kept being excited for her and cheering her on and she got into it too. Then I asked her if she had any more to put in there, and I heard a little bit more go in and I cheered for that too. Then we went to get daddy and show him what she had done so he could cheer for her and hi-five her as well. I thought it was a good beginning, but then today, every single time I've mentioned her sitting on her potty w/o a diaper, she screams like the world is coming to an end, and insists I put a "new clean fresh diaper" on her. She will sit w/ no problem if she still has her diaper on. I don't know where to go from here and just want to give up on the whole thing forever. Depends aisle, here I come.

my daughter is over two years old and is still rear-facing in the car

I am by no means a child safety seat expert, but I like to think of myself as an informed consumer. I've spoken online and offline to people who ARE carseat experts, and know that the chest clip needs to be at the chest instead of at the belly (to prevent a child from slipping through the neck space in a crash and exiting the carseat that was meant to protect him). I have also learned that it is safer to have a child in a 5-point harness as long as possible before moving her to a booster seat (even NASCAR cars' seat belts are a 5-point harness).

But I think one of the most important things about a young child in a carseat is to keep them rear-facing for as long as possible. Being rear-facing is 5 times safer for a 12 to 23 month old than being front facing. And the AAP is even now recommending keeping children rear facing until age 2, (not age 1 as was the previous guideline).

A toddler's head is very heavy compared to his body, and if he is front facing in a crash, it could easily cause serious injury to his neck and spinal cord as his head is thrown forward from the force of even a moderate crash. Here is a powerful video where a grandfather tells the story of his 18 month old grandson who suffered a life-threatening neck injury JUST because he was front-facing in his carseat. If the child were rear-facing, the crash would still have happened, but the injury (and the months of therapy and healing) would have been prevented.

Here are some of the types of comments that I've heard from people who want to turn their children front facing ASAP:

"But her legs are all squished up and she doesn't have any room for her feet." A broken leg heals much easier and faster than a broken neck, and a toddler can sit quite comfortably with their legs crossed. (Or they can have fun kicking the seat, like my daughter does. :p)

"My 12 month old is already 30 lbs, what am I supposed to do?" Toddlers grow at a slower rate during their second year than during their first year, and there are several carseats out on the market that have a rear-facing weight limit of 35 lbs.

"I've already turned my child front facing. He's 15 months old and he used to cry non-stop in a car ride, but now he's SO happy. It's nice to be able to drive in peace." All I can say to this one is watch the video, please. Watch the rear-facing versus front-facing crash tests that are within that video. If you'd still like to keep your child front-facing, that is your choice. I'm only posting this to try to make people aware who might not have known there is an alternative to switching their child from rear-facing to front-facing at 12 months.

And again, I am not a carseat expert. But I do feel that this is important information that the general public all too often just doesn't know, and it could make a positive difference for someone out there.

not quite the diaper contents i expected

I just put Lydia down for a nap, and changed her diaper just beforehand. I opened it up and found.... a little car. I asked her if she put a car in her diaper and she said yes. Thankfully, the diaper was only wet and not dirty so the little car was easy to clean up.

I am 18 weeks today and have a definite belly, but in certain clothes, I can still "hide" the pregnancy a little bit. I've been having some way-down-low cramps for the past couple of weeks, and I'm afraid that it is SPD. I have an appointment later this week, so I'll definitely be asking about it. But the symptoms list in that link really describes what I'm going through right now. It hurts to walk. Sitting down and laying down are fine, but as soon as I get up, it hurts again. It's possible that it could be just round ligament pain, in which case it will go away comparatively soon, but if it's SPD then it's likely to hang around until even after the birth.