Each day a little easier

So I feel badly for David that he isn't going to have nearly as many pictures of himself as a baby as Allyssa did. It is a fact of life I guess. So far he just sleeps, eats, and poops. He's not up for long periods of time, so I would just be taking a picture of a sleeping baby. I'm really going to have to do that so that we can have a few pictures of him though.
Allyssa is getting much better at tantrum throwing. I've decided that it is probably a combination of three things. 1. She's almost 2. 2. She's teething. 3. She has a new brother. We are letting her throw her little fits, but we aren't allowing her to throw them in front of us. Yesterday, I tried taking her to her room. This is difficult since I am not supposed to pick her up. This idea might have to wait. But it did work. When she was done she came to me and said that she wanted to play. Sarah, my sis-in-law, told me that I should make whatever I'm doing look more attractive than her tantrum. That was the real winner! I noticed a little thingy that she liked to play with was sitting on top of a bookshelf and had probably been there for a few weeks, so I got it down and started playing with it. She saw me playing with it when she came out of her room the first time (she wasn't done throwing a fit, so she had to go back to her room). She quickly decided that it was not fun to be in her room and she came out to play. Hooray! She really never threw fits before David was born, but I guess that it was bound to happen.
I can fit into one pair of prepregnancy capris! I'm down 20 pounds and want to loose 10-15 more. I hope to be in a pair of prepregnancy shorts soon! Wish me luck!

Transitions

They are always hard. The good thing is that David actually took a pacifier today and it helped him take a nap all by himself! Hooray! I know that I can't rock him everytime that he needs to go to sleep because he's not the only kid, so I'm really glad that he finally took a pacifier sucessfully. Allyssa is having trouble with the rules. She learned to open doors. Not a good thing. Today she threw several fits about not being allowed to play with things that she shouldn't and being told that she is not allowed in the workshop and that Mommy couldn't go outside because Mommy had to stay with David, but she could go out with Daddy. It has been a really tough few days. I'm very tired. David (husband) is letting me take a nap during his lunch breaks. That helps a lot. It means 5-6 hours of sleep a day instead of 4-5. That is an improvement. The thing that I am feeling the most is isolation. All the mothers that I know live in a town that is half an hour away. That means that there aren't kids to play with or moms to talk with that live next door or down the street. Because of the sleep issue with me, I can totally understand now why moms send their kids to preschool at young ages. I am thankful that I am less judgemental about that now. It makes total sense why a mom of more than one kid needs to send the older to preschool. I don't have that option. Part of the reason I don't is the distance to the one that I would use if I would use one, but I really don't think I would anyways because it doesn't fit in with the lifestyle that my husband and I desire. But I still can totally understand why other people do it. Or Mother's Day Out. There's not one of those here either. Heck, I haven't even found a babysitter that isn't in high school and busy with extra-curricular activities. Anyways, I'm not trying to complain, I'm just trying to express my feelings about my situation. It is a hard transition. I'm feeling very competent as a parent, but having a really hard time dealing with Allyssa's tantrums and my lack of sleep. I'm really hopeing that the Babywise book comes through for me and David sleeps through the night at 8 or 9 weeks.

Update on our life

Allyssa got sick right before David was born. She is better now. Her sick cough is gone and has been replaced by her asthma cough. It might be that everything is blooming around here. Allyssa has been doing okay with the transition. She really wants to play with David. She shows him toys and says "See. Do you see it?" Thanks Grandma for teaching her that. She is jealous and throws some fits, but it has gotten better in the past couple of days. We're trying to get her to follow our rules again. That's another tough area. Things like not playing at the kitchen table or counter and how many toys she is allowed to take with her when she goes outside have been the hardest on her. She has gotten used to me changing her clothes and diaper on the floor. That's good. She even asked Daddy to change her on the floor this morning. David had one really exceptional night of sleeping and a few okay ones. We're working on it. All of the grandparents are back home now. Next week some friends of ours are going to help out by bringing some meals or groceries for us. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such great friends. I'm starting to see how I can manage things with two kids. At least while David is so little not asleep a lot, I can still spend a lot of time with Allyssa. I'm really tired, but other than that, I feel good. David had his one week apointment when he was 6 days old, on Wednesday. He was above birth weight at 6 pounds 13 oz. He'll go back in for his two week apt. next Friday for newborn screening. Next Sunday, David gets baptised. We can't wait!

March 19

I had a doctor's apt on March 19th. David's parents were in town, so he got to come with me. I was spilling protein, had a headache, and minor swelling, so I was sent to the hospital for tests. Before leaving for the hospital Dr. Hunter said that there was a 75% chance we'd have a baby before the day was out. At the hospital they did a sono and found that the baby wasn't growing at the rate that it should. That meant Preeclampsia had come again, my placenta wasn't functioning at 100%, so Dr. Hunter delivered David Dominic Vandercook, Jr. on March 19th at 5:49 pm. He weighed 6 pounds 12.4 oz. He was happy and healthy. We were dismissed from the hospital on Saturday afternoon. Allyssa was very happy to have Mommy and David come home. We are adjusting to being a family of four with help from our parents and friends.

Well we made it through the day

It was a tough one, but Allyssa and I survived the afternoon (David had to work) until David came to rescue us from each other. Allyssa and Daddy had a great time while Mommy laughed and played along. They played airplane, and she plopped down on him, she practiced taking her shirt on and off, and we all played "Where did it go?" with a racoon. It was good fun. She had another meltdown at bedtime, but seems to have already fallen asleep, so she must be exhausted (she didn't take much of a nap, so no one is really surprised). All in all, it was simply a survival day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. It is a new day afterall, and Grandma and Grandpa are coming for a visit!

I don't need a toddler that doesn't take a nap

Stupid coughing wakes Allyssa up from her naps these days. I am really sick of it. She only coughs during her nap and in the early morning before she wakes up. I am really sick and tired of it. I really want her to take a good nap like she was a week ago. Doesn't she know that she is about to have a brother and that I really need her to take a nap so that when he comes along she still naps!? It is really frustrating. I know that she is tired. One day she literally didn't take a nap at all. Another couple of days this week she's taken short naps. Does this have to do with her asthma or with the time change? I don't know, but I don't like it.

Smelly Stuff

While I do wear body spray, I do not wear perfume, and really never have liked perfume. I was reminded of why today. As a child I often set behind a lady in church who wore a flower scented perfume that made me feel sick to my stomach. I would often have to ask my parents if we could find another seat. I thought that that was the worst that perfume could get...you know, over-powering, drifting too far away from the person, making the whole world smell like the perfume that that person is wearing. I was wrong. Today Allyssa was held by someone whose perfume smelled like poop. I'm not trying to say that it was stinky, which it was, I am trying to say that I repeatedly checked my daughter's diaper to make sure that I wasn't imagining this. I wasn't. And she isn't gassy. It is really quite sad that there is someone walking around who smells like poop on purpose. I am so glad that it is a bath night (it would be even if it wasn't) and that today is the day that I wash Allyssa's sheet after her nap. Hooray for that! Boo for perfume!

Full Term and a Story

Yesterday I was officially full-term. I am now 37 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I feel good. I'm no longer as sleepy in the morning, but I get very tired in the late afternoon. This week I've gotten up early enough to fix waffles one day and French toast another for the family for breakfast. It was good to finally get to fix breakfast for everyone again and not be dragging. It also helps that we got a new waffle maker, thanks to swagbucks, that also doubles as a griddle! It is very exciting because we haven't had a waffle iron in a LONG time because ours broke so many times that we gave up on it (we kept shipping it back to the company and the same piece would break again and again). The griddle sure made making French toast less time consuming!

I stubbed my toe this past week really hard. Most people yelp or scream something when this happens. I did. I shouted "Oww! Pain!" Allyssa thought that sounded like a fun thing to yell, so she shouted "Owww! Pain!" several times after that. I'm really glad that that is what I screamed!

***Swagbucks is a search engine that gives points for searching. Each point you earn gets you closer to winning a prize. My favorite prize is the $5 gift card to Amazon.com, but they have hundreds of options!

Today

Today I had a doctor apt. I'm fine. I was supposed to have a babysitter watch Allyssa, but at 5:30 last night my sitter cancelled. It was too late to get another sitter without being super rude, so Allyssa came with me. David had dressed her this morning before he knew the temperature, so when I opened the door to load her up in the car, I quickly had to shut the door, take off her skirt and sandles, grab pants, socks and shoes, and re-dress her. Then I put on socks and shoes myself, but didn't have time to switch to pants. I grabbed her jacket and quickly put it on her as I rushed to get her in the car. I brought along the book A Dragon in a Wagon. We made it all the way to the office without having to resort to a snack in the car or the special book. All she wanted was Caillou's Community and water. She didn't start fussing until we were about 2 blocks away. Pretty good. At the doctor's office, I was told that 4 ladies were in labor and the doctor could leave anytime. Go pee in a cup and wait to be called. As we waited to be called into a room, I gave Allyssa the special book. She had me read it to her so many times that the lady sitting near us sighed with relief when she was called into a room. I don't blame her. I would have liked a room without that book, too. In the room, I struggled to keep her occupied until I had to undress. Then the doctor came in and asked why I was undressed to which I replied, "The nurse told me to." Oh well. Allyssa was very upset about the doctor being there. She threw a fit. The doctor picked her up and handed her to me on the examination table. That wasn't fun at all. She cried as I held her and had to lay down to get measured and then sit up all holding her with one arm on this skinny table. She cried until I finally got dressed. Then we headed to the store because I can't buy ground turkey sausage at my Wal-mart and was out of it. Allyssa wasn't a fan of stopping, but goldfish crackers kept her from being too angry in the store. Then we headed home. The whole way home she kept asking for songs or books or simply fussing. We finally made it home and she didn't want to come inside. By the way, I had to pee and was dressed in shorts and was freezing. I made her come inside after I got the car unloaded. That did not make her happy, so she threw a fit on the floor. When she was done with that, she came to see what I was doing in the workshop. I was putting the meat in the freezer. She decided she should play in the worshop, but she isn't allowed to because there are too many dangerous things in there for a little girl, so she threw another fit when I removed her. Then I got her jacket and shoes off and put away and got her diaper changed. I got lunch on the table and told her it was time to eat. She threw a fit because she had to leave her toy mommy and daddy behind. She ate one, maybe two bites. Then told me she was done. Undoubtedly it had to do with the goldfish. Oh well. So I got to eat hardly anything and went to put her down for a nap. She fell asleep at noon only to wake up several times coughing until finally staying awake at about 12:20. I tried to rock her back to sleep once I realized that she wasn't going to settle down herself, but that failed, so she spent the rest of naptime awake in her crib while I cried and tried to get chores done. What a great day this has been!

Sweet things she says...Silly things she says...

No matter how tired I am or how much my feet hurt, I jump up and run when I hear this over the baby monitor during nap time,
"Mommy...Mommy...Mommy"
so quiet and with a sleepy and scratchy voice, she calls for me after a coughing spell to comfort her so she can go back to sleep. Sweetest thing I've ever heard.

"Water need." So I get her a cup of water. "Thank you, Daddy...Mommy...Thank you Mommy." She gets mixed up a little and says it to Daddy first, but she knows who I am and corrects herself.

Silly:
The other day David mowed the lawn. He came inside to get an extension cord to plug in the blower to blow off the driveway. When he left I said to Allyssa, "Daddy is stinky." Of course "stinky" is a fun word to say, so she practiced that for a while saying "Daddy nink-nee." I thought it was absolutly hilarious, but didn't want to encourage her to call her Daddy stinky, so I quickly told her not to worry that he'd take a shower when he came in. When he came in she said to him, "Take shower." It wasn't a statement of fact, but rather in the tone of a request. I smiled and kept my mouth shut. Off he went to get a shower having no clue what new word Allyssa had learned. So while he was getting cleaned up, I had her practice saying "Daddy smells good." She knew all of those words, so I didn't think it would be a problem. He came out of the shower and she ran to him and all on her own says, "Daddy nink-nee. Take shower." I died laughing, so David asked me what she'd said. I told him and then prompted her to tell him he smelled good. She said "Daddy smell gooood." Then, she gave him a big hug.