And no, I am not talking about Martha Stewart.
It has been an incredibly difficult week for me. Aidan has been really sick with a bad cold and another ear infection, and antibiotics don't seem to be helping. Oakley has also been battling a nasty cold and cutting teeth which is making him out to be a very fussy baby. I am fighting extreme exhaustion and morning/noon/night sickness...yes, you heard that right, morning sickness. We are in full battle mode.
My house is A MESS! It usually is anyway, but it has gotten progressively worse this week. And...I have an extreme mental obsession with it right now. I want to deep clean, I want to prevent runny noses from rubbing against the couch, to stop food from falling off the table, to wash sticky hands before they get stuck in someone's hair. Alas...I am failing.
As I thought about all this and I look over my incredibly disorganized and messy house, I was reminded about Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus, something that I have not been very good at this week either. I want to be a Martha. I want to work and get it done. I want the Lord to see my need and help me accomplish my cleaning, not usher me into His presence as I lay it all aside. I am humbled at the thought of my need to keep things together in appearance only...not worrying about my heart and my needs for the comfort of the Lord.
It is hard right now, taking care of two little ones that are so demanding. Aidan is unbelievably disobedient and difficult right now and when waves of nausea come, I can only put off dealing with him until I feel more normal. I have reverted to methods of merely coping. And yet, the Lord calls me to His throne.
It is always nice to know that sitting at Jesus' feet will give me what I need to finish out this day.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A little change...
The blog has been going through some recent changes as many may have noticed. My wonderful husband spent many hours redirecting my blog to blogspot and getting it all set up and running correctly. There are still some things in the works, but I am happy to begin blogging again with a fresh look.
Krista
Krista
Monday, January 11, 2010
When it rains...it floods
Yesterday marked the beginning of an interesting series of events that I can happily say are behind us for now.
1) Seth took Aidan to the potty and it resulted in a major poop and pee fiasco with Aidan walking in it and smearing it all over my bathroom rug. Lesson: Never let husbands take children to the bathroom.
2) After removing rug from bathroom and taking downstairs we discover several inches of standing water in our laundry room and closet. It appears that the main drain in the house is clogged!
3) Fast forward to Monday: trying not to use the water so as not to add to the problem downstairs proves to be a little tricky.
4) Drain is cleared! Apparently roots with the help of some diaper wipes were the problem. Diaper wipes? How did this happen? Oh yes, Lesson 2: Don't forget to mention to your husband not to flush diaper wipes down the toilet.
5) To celebrate the fixing of the drain, I go to the bathroom only to discover our poor toilet is clogged.
6) All is well...and there are no more incidents to tell of at the present moment.
The END.
1) Seth took Aidan to the potty and it resulted in a major poop and pee fiasco with Aidan walking in it and smearing it all over my bathroom rug. Lesson: Never let husbands take children to the bathroom.
2) After removing rug from bathroom and taking downstairs we discover several inches of standing water in our laundry room and closet. It appears that the main drain in the house is clogged!
3) Fast forward to Monday: trying not to use the water so as not to add to the problem downstairs proves to be a little tricky.
4) Drain is cleared! Apparently roots with the help of some diaper wipes were the problem. Diaper wipes? How did this happen? Oh yes, Lesson 2: Don't forget to mention to your husband not to flush diaper wipes down the toilet.
5) To celebrate the fixing of the drain, I go to the bathroom only to discover our poor toilet is clogged.
6) All is well...and there are no more incidents to tell of at the present moment.
The END.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Potty Training 101
Okay, so I haven't read any books on toilet training and I don't really have a clue if what I am doing is even useful, but as of last Saturday, we got out the potty chair and Aidan has been having a blast sitting on it.
Since he is still only 21 months, I am in no rush for him to be potty trained, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to get him used to the idea, so I set out the potty chair in our bathroom and asked him if he wanted to try it out.
So far, he has peed in it once and pooped (well, after I stuck him there mid-poop) once.
He has also managed to pee on the floor numerous times.
We sit him on there every morning after breakfast and he will sit and read sometimes for 45 min. If he doesn't go, I just put a diaper on and we are done whenever he is ready to be. At this point, he still loves our potty routine.
Last night at dinner, he started trying to get out of his chair and kept saying, "pee-pee", so we asked him if he needed to go. He nodded, so Seth took him up to his potty.
The following picture depicts the events that followed.
Not trying to gross anyone out, but I was so cracking up about this because Seth was freaking out.
Oh, the joys of toilet training!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Random
More snow is falling in KC and it is freezing outside!
Aidan peed in the potty yesterday...today he peed on the floor.
Yesterday, I was counting and when I said "7", Aidan chimed in, "eigh, nigh".... I love when my kid is smart and I can't even take any credit for it.
I need a nap.
Aidan peed in the potty yesterday...today he peed on the floor.
Yesterday, I was counting and when I said "7", Aidan chimed in, "eigh, nigh".... I love when my kid is smart and I can't even take any credit for it.
I need a nap.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Best Parenting Decision I've Made So Far
That may be a slight exaggeration.
However, over Christmas vacation, my eyes were opened wide to a decision I made early on regarding Aidan's sleeping habits.
From day one, I vowed that I would not allow him to become needy of me to go to sleep, that he would learn to fall asleep completely on his own without any cajoling, rocking, singing, patting, or pleading. While there have been exceptions to my firm belief in sleep independence (i.e. sickness, teething pain, travel), I have been absolutely resolute about it.
Luckily, Aidan caught on quickly and at an early age he was happily putting himself to sleep. I did nothing more than lay him down in bed awake and walk right out of the room. He could fuss, talk, sing, or fall right to sleep...and he did.
Sometimes I would feel guilty for not reading the same book 6 million times over, or singing and rocking and shushing and patting, or sitting still and hardly breathing while I prayed he would close his eyes, but mostly I felt relieved. When nap time came, it was my time, and I could start enjoying it immediately. Bedtime routines were short, and once the time came, he was plopped in bed, prayed with, kissed, and wrapped in blankies.
So....over the holidays we traveled a few times and Aidan was in different places. Normally, he would continue his easy compliance about bedtime, but I stepped in a little and messed him up. The first night we were away from home, he was pretty upset about going to bed. So, in order to not have to hear any protests, I scooped him up and decided that a quick song and a few minutes of rocking would do the trick. 45 minutes later, he had finally fallen asleep lying in MY bed atop MY pillow, drooling incessantly. He only wanted ONE song to be sung OVER and OVER again and I was exhausted. This continued for 3 nights. I hated it. The first night was kinda fun, but by the second night, I was so ready to be done with it. While all the other grownups were happily enjoying each other's company, I was at the complete mercy of my child. And he didn't get any faster at falling asleep either. He would start snoring and then suddenly pop his head up and say, "ma-ma, hi". So cute, but so annoying at the same time.
The night we got home, it was cold turkey CIO (cry it out) time for Aidan. I sang him one song, plopped him in bed and listened to him cry off and on for 1 hour. It was horrible. The second night was better-20 min. and the 3rd was about 10. Tonight will be the fourth night of crying and I hope it is either for 1 min. or none. It is amazing how much relief it brings to send a happy child off to bed. I'm glad that I was able to experience just how wonderful it really is to have taught my child to go to sleep on his own.
However, over Christmas vacation, my eyes were opened wide to a decision I made early on regarding Aidan's sleeping habits.
From day one, I vowed that I would not allow him to become needy of me to go to sleep, that he would learn to fall asleep completely on his own without any cajoling, rocking, singing, patting, or pleading. While there have been exceptions to my firm belief in sleep independence (i.e. sickness, teething pain, travel), I have been absolutely resolute about it.
Luckily, Aidan caught on quickly and at an early age he was happily putting himself to sleep. I did nothing more than lay him down in bed awake and walk right out of the room. He could fuss, talk, sing, or fall right to sleep...and he did.
Sometimes I would feel guilty for not reading the same book 6 million times over, or singing and rocking and shushing and patting, or sitting still and hardly breathing while I prayed he would close his eyes, but mostly I felt relieved. When nap time came, it was my time, and I could start enjoying it immediately. Bedtime routines were short, and once the time came, he was plopped in bed, prayed with, kissed, and wrapped in blankies.
So....over the holidays we traveled a few times and Aidan was in different places. Normally, he would continue his easy compliance about bedtime, but I stepped in a little and messed him up. The first night we were away from home, he was pretty upset about going to bed. So, in order to not have to hear any protests, I scooped him up and decided that a quick song and a few minutes of rocking would do the trick. 45 minutes later, he had finally fallen asleep lying in MY bed atop MY pillow, drooling incessantly. He only wanted ONE song to be sung OVER and OVER again and I was exhausted. This continued for 3 nights. I hated it. The first night was kinda fun, but by the second night, I was so ready to be done with it. While all the other grownups were happily enjoying each other's company, I was at the complete mercy of my child. And he didn't get any faster at falling asleep either. He would start snoring and then suddenly pop his head up and say, "ma-ma, hi". So cute, but so annoying at the same time.
The night we got home, it was cold turkey CIO (cry it out) time for Aidan. I sang him one song, plopped him in bed and listened to him cry off and on for 1 hour. It was horrible. The second night was better-20 min. and the 3rd was about 10. Tonight will be the fourth night of crying and I hope it is either for 1 min. or none. It is amazing how much relief it brings to send a happy child off to bed. I'm glad that I was able to experience just how wonderful it really is to have taught my child to go to sleep on his own.
Monday, January 4, 2010
21 months
Aidan,
Today you are 21 months old and just 3 short months away from turning 2. Wow! You have really grown up a lot this last month and it has been fun to see all the new ways in which you are becoming a little boy.
You are talking non stop these days and while you still jabber on nonsensically a lot of the time, you know how to say many words. You want to put them together and make sentences, but you have not quite figured that out yet. You do sometimes say 2 words at a time, but most things are a mix of body language and single word requests. Some of your new words this month are: big, read, straw, water, up, draw, out, down, cake, boy, guy, bike, ride, neigh, eat, help, Bob, "Mimi", house, bed, raisin, bug, snow, star, elbow, bread, toast, teeth, socks, toes, tools, shoes, dough, pee-pee, pancake, money, smoke, honey, drink, and Elmo ( you now say it clearly instead of la-la).
You were a great traveler this past month and went on two road trips. While you were excellent in the car, your sleep habits changed while away. I felt like you were a newborn again! Luckily, once home again, your sleep evened out right away.
You stayed healthy this entire month which was a great answer to my prayers. I was so happy that you were well for all the holiday travel and activities.
In the last few days you have started sitting on the potty and are now obsessed with doing so. Unfortunately, you have yet to actually go to the bathroom in the potty, but you are practicing the art of sitting there. You hate to put your diaper back on again though and you protest that you are going to either pee-pee or poo-poo in the potty.
You love your letters and can easily identify, A, B, C, E, O, and sometimes I. You notice them on the smallest of labels and signs. It is so cute!
You have completely stopped drinking milk and don't have a "bottle" in the morning or before bed anymore. We try to make up for you lack of milk by eating lots of yogurt, one of your few staple foods.
Aidan, you are a joy and so full of life. I can't imagine how much more fun you will be and how much more joy you will bring into our lives as you grow. I am so blessed to have such a happy, healthy boy who loves life like you do.
Love,
Momma
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