There isn’t a whole lot that we love about Virginia, but spring is nice here. The weather was beautiful all weekend, so we spent a majority of our time outside. Our yard is a disaster, mostly because Roxy likes to dig and she also likes to catch and kill the moles that live back there. She is a very determined dog, and has a few screws loose. Recently she has developed a habit of needing to go outside in the middle of the night, and she will whine until I get up and let her out. She doesn’t NEED to go out – she wants to go out and check out the yard. Jon refuses to give in to her, so I have to let her out and wait until she is ready to come back in. I can’t ignore her, because I can’t sleep thru the whining, and even if I could she then steps it up a level and nudges my hand till I get up. Last night a thunderstorm rolled in – and Roxy is terrified of thunderstorms. We let her sleep with us during thunder because she is so scared, but she wanted to sleep by our heads last night – not our feet. Eventually we compromised and she settled by my knees, but then Hailey woke up and was afraid so Daddy caved and went up to sleep with her. Roxy got his spot in the bed. Needless to point out, we are all very tired this morning!
The changes in Hailey after only one week with the new babysitter are amazing. She is noticeably calmer, isn’t having nearly as many tantrums and keeps telling us very amusing things. Her biggest revelation of last week is that she has teeth, and that means she is a big girl. Babies don’t have teeth. This has lead to a small obsession with teeth, and commenting on everyone’s teeth. No one is exempt, not waitresses, not people at the pool, and definitely not our pets. She really likes being a big girl, and is very offended if we tell her she is too small for something, or not big enough, or accidentally refer to her as our little girl.
She is also becoming a stickler for manners, but mostly she likes to enforce them and not use them. Her favorite is “We don’t talk at the dinner table with food in our mouths!” - Which is often repeated with a mouthful of food. She doesn’t like it when Jon and I try to talk to each other about anything – she thinks she should do all of the talking all of the time. She is being much better about picking up her toys, and has in general actually been really pleasant to be around.
We have a short work week this week. Jon is on leave starting tomorrow – so that he can catch up on his master’s homework. On Wednesday afternoon we are leaving to drive up to Erie to visit Aunt Casa and her family – and obviously the rest of my family. Hailey is extremely excited to see her cousins and her Grandpa – she told me “I like my Grandpa, he has lots of presents!” Which is true, he does, and we are going to be having a little birthday party for her while we are there (yes, 2 weeks early, but she likes birthdays!) so Grandpa will surely give her presents again.
Since we have lived in Virginia I have been lucky enough to make it home at least every other month. However, I have not been there since Thanksgiving! My sister, mom, niece and nephew visited us at Christmas, but it has still been too long. We really wanted to be there in May for Benjamin’s birthday, but Jon’s work/travel schedule made that impossible, on top of our trip to St Thomas in May for Jon’s brothers wedding. We need to make one more trip up there before the new baby to switch baby clothes with my sister! She has all of Hailey’s hand-me-downs for Rowan, plus what she has purchased on her own. She said she has 7 Rubbermaid containers of clothes for us to take back….not sure where I am going to put them!
For that matter, we aren’t entirely sure where we are going to put the baby. I seriously need to get my shopping addiction under control.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
My Marsha
Most who read my blog know me pretty well and know about my BFF, Marsha. Marsha is on my mind a lot these days, as she is dealing with a lot of stress in her life, and especially today, as her little boy has a major surgery to remove a tumor in his lung. So today, I will write about Marsha, and hope that all that read this will keep her in your thoughts.
When I was younger – like high school and college age – I never had a “best” friend. I had a lot of friends, and belonged to a “group” of girls, but never had that one person who was my very best friend. In college, I had my roommates, who I adore and are my forever friends, and obviously I met Jon at Penn State, and he became my soul mate, and all of my life I have had the world’s best big sister, who is, of course, my best friend, but both Jon and my sister are a different kind of best friend than the kind of friendship I found when I met Marsha.
I will never forget the moment I met Marsha. Unbeknownst to me, our paths had crossed before, but the first time I remember meeting her was at a picnic shortly after we all moved to Mountain Home. We didn’t have kids yet, our dogs were the center of our lives, and my first impression was that we couldn’t have been more different, and that she wasn’t someone I would normally be friends with. But she was funny, and confident, and ate about twelve brownies in a row at that picnic, and didn’t care what anyone thought – and why should she, as she is also gorgeous. She made me laugh, and I was trying to be more open minded about making some new friends. Somehow or another we started talking, and over time developed a friendship that was different than any I had ever known. I never had to worry about offending her, or endangering our friendship – if she was upset about something, she would let you know. I think one of Marsha’s best skills is her ability to take care of everybody, its just what she does. It is very easy for me to just let her take care of me, and so that is what I did.
Our three years in Mountain Home were great. We both bought our first houses there, and had our first babies there. She was the first person to see and hold Hailey(besides me and Jon, of course), and was by my side through all of my insecurities about, and adjustment to- being a mom.
But of course, we are military wives, and so our husbands forced us to move away from each other. Marsha now lives in San Antonio, we have little hope of ever living in the same place again, and have seen each other only 3 times in the last 2+ years. We don’t talk everyday, or even every week – as our children do not appreciate it when we use the phone, but regardless of the time and distance, it’s the same.
Jon, Hailey, and I went to visit Marsha and her family in January to help celebrate her 30th birthday. In the week after we left, her husband was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent a major surgery and is now enduring chemo. JJ, her almost 4 yr old son, has had a mass in his lung for some time, and his doctors have decided that it now is the perfect time for it to come out. JJ’s surgery is today, and while I know Marsha was - and is - worried about her husband, it is nothing compared to her anxiety for JJ.
I can’t even fathom the stress that she has been under in the past two months, but am very proud of the way she has handled everything. I know that she is a natural care-taker, but I think this may be more than any person should have to take on. I also know that many people are praying for Joel and JJ, and for Marsha and Jace too, but I just wanted to make sure everyone keeps Marsha in your thoughts today and send her your strength so she can keep taking care of her family.
When I was younger – like high school and college age – I never had a “best” friend. I had a lot of friends, and belonged to a “group” of girls, but never had that one person who was my very best friend. In college, I had my roommates, who I adore and are my forever friends, and obviously I met Jon at Penn State, and he became my soul mate, and all of my life I have had the world’s best big sister, who is, of course, my best friend, but both Jon and my sister are a different kind of best friend than the kind of friendship I found when I met Marsha.
I will never forget the moment I met Marsha. Unbeknownst to me, our paths had crossed before, but the first time I remember meeting her was at a picnic shortly after we all moved to Mountain Home. We didn’t have kids yet, our dogs were the center of our lives, and my first impression was that we couldn’t have been more different, and that she wasn’t someone I would normally be friends with. But she was funny, and confident, and ate about twelve brownies in a row at that picnic, and didn’t care what anyone thought – and why should she, as she is also gorgeous. She made me laugh, and I was trying to be more open minded about making some new friends. Somehow or another we started talking, and over time developed a friendship that was different than any I had ever known. I never had to worry about offending her, or endangering our friendship – if she was upset about something, she would let you know. I think one of Marsha’s best skills is her ability to take care of everybody, its just what she does. It is very easy for me to just let her take care of me, and so that is what I did.
Our three years in Mountain Home were great. We both bought our first houses there, and had our first babies there. She was the first person to see and hold Hailey(besides me and Jon, of course), and was by my side through all of my insecurities about, and adjustment to- being a mom.
But of course, we are military wives, and so our husbands forced us to move away from each other. Marsha now lives in San Antonio, we have little hope of ever living in the same place again, and have seen each other only 3 times in the last 2+ years. We don’t talk everyday, or even every week – as our children do not appreciate it when we use the phone, but regardless of the time and distance, it’s the same.
Jon, Hailey, and I went to visit Marsha and her family in January to help celebrate her 30th birthday. In the week after we left, her husband was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent a major surgery and is now enduring chemo. JJ, her almost 4 yr old son, has had a mass in his lung for some time, and his doctors have decided that it now is the perfect time for it to come out. JJ’s surgery is today, and while I know Marsha was - and is - worried about her husband, it is nothing compared to her anxiety for JJ.
I can’t even fathom the stress that she has been under in the past two months, but am very proud of the way she has handled everything. I know that she is a natural care-taker, but I think this may be more than any person should have to take on. I also know that many people are praying for Joel and JJ, and for Marsha and Jace too, but I just wanted to make sure everyone keeps Marsha in your thoughts today and send her your strength so she can keep taking care of her family.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Good Day!
I will start with stating that, overall, yesterday went very well for Hailey at Mrs. Jen’s. Jen sent me a text at about 1PM letting me know that she was doing great, ate her lunch, and had taken a very short nap. Hailey is teetering on being ready to give up her nap, but she definitely still needs about an hour and a half to her get her thru the day pleasantly. I left work a little early and when I got there, she was very happy to see me. Jen said she had gotten a little weepy in the last hour, which I am sure was mostly because she was tired, but otherwise she had had a good day.
In the car, on the way home, Hailey said,
“Mama, do we frow outside?”
I didn’t understand so I asked her to say it again.
Hailey: “You know, do we FROW outside?”
Me: “do you mean throw, like a ball?”
Hailey: “Yeah, do we frow outside, not inside?”
Me: “Yes we throw outside, it’s not nice to throw inside.”
Hailey: “Oh, ok.”
I wondered to myself what she could have been doing that would be the cause of learning this lesson. I would have tried to get her to explain, but when I looked in the rearview mirror I saw a sleeping little girl. It does take a lot of energy to be a good girl all day. She stayed asleep when I moved her from the car to the couch. She woke up around 6 and was very snuggly and didn’t want to be away from me. I enjoyed cuddling her, and I had expected her to unleash all of her pent up anxiety and emotions from the day, so I was relieved that it was not being expressed with screaming and tantrums, and just my little girl wanting to be held.
In the car, on the way home, Hailey said,
“Mama, do we frow outside?”
I didn’t understand so I asked her to say it again.
Hailey: “You know, do we FROW outside?”
Me: “do you mean throw, like a ball?”
Hailey: “Yeah, do we frow outside, not inside?”
Me: “Yes we throw outside, it’s not nice to throw inside.”
Hailey: “Oh, ok.”
I wondered to myself what she could have been doing that would be the cause of learning this lesson. I would have tried to get her to explain, but when I looked in the rearview mirror I saw a sleeping little girl. It does take a lot of energy to be a good girl all day. She stayed asleep when I moved her from the car to the couch. She woke up around 6 and was very snuggly and didn’t want to be away from me. I enjoyed cuddling her, and I had expected her to unleash all of her pent up anxiety and emotions from the day, so I was relieved that it was not being expressed with screaming and tantrums, and just my little girl wanting to be held.
She is still terrified of the dark as a result of her nightmare on Saturday night, so we had to get her a nightlight for in her room last night. This morning she told me to be sure and shut it off so it doesn’t run out of batteries because she will need it again tonight when its nite-nite time.
This morning she asked, “Where I going?”
Me: “You are going to Mrs. Jen’s” – Jon and I are both holding our breath at this point hoping that she doesn’t freak out…
Hailey: “AGAIN!” Big smile, and runs to Jon “Daddy, I get to go to Mrs. Jen’s again today!”
When we got in the car she informed me that she was not going to frow inside today and she was also not going to bump heads with Baby Bennett. I told her that that was good, and she is a good girl. I asked Jen what had happened yesterday to cause Hailey to be so concerned with throwing, and she said that Hailey had thrown a book and it hit Bennett, who cried, so Hailey went to give him a kiss and he pulled her hair, so she cried. Jen told her that big girls only throw outside, and Hailey responded with “My daddy lets me frow inside!”
Oh,man.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Spider-Alligator-Crocodiles and don't put a pull-up in the washing machine
Today is my mom’s birthday, but I have no idea how old she is because I cannot remember things like that – that is what I have a sister for – otherwise I may not have known it was even her birthday, and which also explains why I haven’t mailed her present yet – I will do that at lunch!
Today is also Hailey’s first day with Mrs. Jen (this is what Hailey has decided to call her….not Miss Jen – MRS Jen). She was very excited to go there this morning. We took some of her over-abundance of toys with us, and I think that helped alleviate some of her anxiety. When we got there, Jen’s baby was crying upstairs and Hailey was so excited to go see him, she took off, then stopped and remembered that she didn’t give me a kiss good-bye. She ran back, gave me a quick kiss and was off. Hopefully it’s still going well. Hailey was very well behaved all weekend, and also very hungry. Both of these traits are unusual for her – she is generally a terrible eater. This weekend she was a different child and kept telling us that her belly was feeling hungry and ate more than she eats in a week altogether.
Today is also Hailey’s first day with Mrs. Jen (this is what Hailey has decided to call her….not Miss Jen – MRS Jen). She was very excited to go there this morning. We took some of her over-abundance of toys with us, and I think that helped alleviate some of her anxiety. When we got there, Jen’s baby was crying upstairs and Hailey was so excited to go see him, she took off, then stopped and remembered that she didn’t give me a kiss good-bye. She ran back, gave me a quick kiss and was off. Hopefully it’s still going well. Hailey was very well behaved all weekend, and also very hungry. Both of these traits are unusual for her – she is generally a terrible eater. This weekend she was a different child and kept telling us that her belly was feeling hungry and ate more than she eats in a week altogether.
The weather was beautiful here this past weekend and we were able to spend a bunch of time outside playing on the trampoline and starting to clean up our yard. Jon didn't want me to put this picture up here, but I think it is cute. She helped me clean up the yard all last summer when Jon was TDY, and she was very excited to do it again. Mostly she just walks around and locates piles for us to pick up. It was warm enough in the sun to wear shorts, and Jon and I both got a little bit of color on our faces. Pregnancy fat looks a little better with a tan.
Saturday night Hailey had her first major bad dream. I am a very light sleeper and normally hear her before she even makes it out of her room and before Jon even stirs, but she woke up screaming and bolted out of her room. Jon was upstairs before I was even fully awake and processing what was going on. It still makes me laugh how quick his response time is when something is wrong – but he is completely oblivious most other times. Apparently a spider was trying to get Hailey – and when Jon told me that I said “But she isn’t afraid of buggies and spiders.” This was not your ordinary imaginary spider – it was a Spider-Alligator-Crocodile and it was on her bed. Daddy scared it away for her and got her back in bed. She got up about 5 more times, still terrified of the spider-alligator-crocodile, before Jon just gave up and helped her get back to sleep. He is such a pushover.
Our other child, my first born and love of my life, Rolo, is suffering terribly from his allergies. He is allergic to Virginia, and it is always the worst in the spring. He is miserable, and he drives me crazy with his constant scratching and licking. Jon was getting a bath ready for him yesterday morning and Rolo walked into the bathroom, hopped into the tub and laid down without being told to. He has rubbed most of the fur off of his face around his eyes and looks goofy. I probably need to take him to the vet to get a steroid shot, but Rolo on steroids is not good, so I am hoping lots of baths will help.
And lastly, my lesson of the weekend is: Don’t wash a pull-up in the washing machine – it makes a terrible mess. I am not sure how it got in there, (I blamed it on Jon, of course) but it was horrible. I can’t really describe it, but it is 400 times worse than when Rolo gets a pull up out of the garbage and tears it up and leaves it for me. .
Thursday, March 18, 2010
My on-going childcare drama
Sometimes I wonder if I imagine the drama in my life, create it, or if I just have bad luck – especially when it comes to childcare. Or maybe I am just really hard to please – which then leads me to wonder if I should be a stay at home mom, which would ultimately eliminate this problem. I might lose my mind and have new drama, however, so I generally don’t think about that alternative too much. This last episode in my on-going search for perfect childcare made me question my commitment to being a working mom more than usual, and I struggled with it. I am probably still struggling with it, but I am hoping the current resolution will be “the one”!
When we had Hailey, I went back to work after approx 10 weeks, and Hailey went to a daycare establishment in Mountain Home. At first, they were great and her primary care lady did a great job with her. As time went by, Hailey became such an un-demanding baby (and as I write that sentence I am wondering what happened to that pleasant little girl – she certainly can NOT be the defiant and headstrong almost 3 yr old I know today) that if you didn’t wake her up and attempt to feed her, she would sleep, sleep, sleep, and never really eat. She never cried – and I mean never – not once that I can remember did she ever cry because she was hungry, tired, or wanted held. Well, the daycare people were not being attentive enough to laid back baby Hailey and she was being allowed to sleep all day and not fed every 3 hours like she needed to be. At the same time, we were getting ready to move, so two of my good friends took over watching her for the last weeks I worked in Idaho. She was about six months old when I ceased working, and because we had to move to Florida for 4 months and then to Virginia, I was at home with Hailey until she was 13 months old. I can honestly say I enjoyed that time with her, and was grateful that it worked out that I was a SAHM during those fundamental months. When I finally landed my current job, I had just come to terms with the fact that I may not find a job, and was really starting to embrace my SAHM job. But, I was meant to work, and this perfect job came along, so back to work I went, and we put Hailey in a daycare right down the street from my work. It was quite the adjustment for her, but she was ok, and we were happy with the daycare. Of course, she continued to get older, and eventually she switched to a new room, with a new teacher. We were fortunate, again, as Hailey loved that teacher. But then, everyone’s schedules at the daycare changed, and she wasn’t with her favorite teacher most of the time, and the people taking care of her were changing on an almost bi-weekly basis. Hailey started having melt downs almost immediately when I would pick her up, and we spent most of our evenings trying to calm her down. At this same time, my sister had just had her daughter, was returning to work and decided to switch from a standard daycare to an in-home provider. I like to do whatever my sister does, so I went to Craigslist and looked. I almost immediately found our current sitter and after we went to meet her, Jon and I both had a feeling of calm, and knew that it was the right move for Hailey – who was 22 months at the time. By the second day, she didn’t want to come home with me when I picked her up, and I felt more at ease than I had ever felt.
Well, its been over a year since then, and lots of things have changed. We still love our sitter and think she does a fantastic job with Hailey. She is very well taken care of and happy, and loves to be there, as much as she loves to be with us. But, the husband was laid off about 8 months ago, is still out of work, and things have become questionable. There were always little things that bothered me, but I try to be understanding, and patient, and keep hoping for things to go back to normal. But they haven’t – and they are now watching 9 small children and 4 after school care kids. There are constantly extra people around, and we didn’t see how they were going to be able to care for our new baby AND all of those kids. I talked to her about my concerns, and things seemed to improve, but then she started watching the ninth toddler, and that was my breaking point. There are a bunch of other reasons - like a pregnant dog, the addition of a bunny, smoking, but starting on Monday, Hailey will be going to a new sitter. It was a hard decision, but my gut told me that we needed to make a change.
Yes, I found the new sitter on craigslist too, and yes I know this is risky. But, I think its going to be good – I hope so anyway. She just quit her job to become a SAHM, and she is only going to watch her own son, Hailey, and another baby. Starting in September when I go back to work, she will watch the new baby, and Hailey will be going to preschool three days a week so she will only be there part time. The babysitter's name is Jen ( so of course she is fantastic) and she has a degree in therapeutic recreation and has been working in a nursing home for the past two years – so she is obviously a patient person, and well educated, and a mom. Hailey seemed very comfortable with her, and we are going to see her several times this weekend to try and help the transition go smoothly next week. I have high hopes for this!
When we had Hailey, I went back to work after approx 10 weeks, and Hailey went to a daycare establishment in Mountain Home. At first, they were great and her primary care lady did a great job with her. As time went by, Hailey became such an un-demanding baby (and as I write that sentence I am wondering what happened to that pleasant little girl – she certainly can NOT be the defiant and headstrong almost 3 yr old I know today) that if you didn’t wake her up and attempt to feed her, she would sleep, sleep, sleep, and never really eat. She never cried – and I mean never – not once that I can remember did she ever cry because she was hungry, tired, or wanted held. Well, the daycare people were not being attentive enough to laid back baby Hailey and she was being allowed to sleep all day and not fed every 3 hours like she needed to be. At the same time, we were getting ready to move, so two of my good friends took over watching her for the last weeks I worked in Idaho. She was about six months old when I ceased working, and because we had to move to Florida for 4 months and then to Virginia, I was at home with Hailey until she was 13 months old. I can honestly say I enjoyed that time with her, and was grateful that it worked out that I was a SAHM during those fundamental months. When I finally landed my current job, I had just come to terms with the fact that I may not find a job, and was really starting to embrace my SAHM job. But, I was meant to work, and this perfect job came along, so back to work I went, and we put Hailey in a daycare right down the street from my work. It was quite the adjustment for her, but she was ok, and we were happy with the daycare. Of course, she continued to get older, and eventually she switched to a new room, with a new teacher. We were fortunate, again, as Hailey loved that teacher. But then, everyone’s schedules at the daycare changed, and she wasn’t with her favorite teacher most of the time, and the people taking care of her were changing on an almost bi-weekly basis. Hailey started having melt downs almost immediately when I would pick her up, and we spent most of our evenings trying to calm her down. At this same time, my sister had just had her daughter, was returning to work and decided to switch from a standard daycare to an in-home provider. I like to do whatever my sister does, so I went to Craigslist and looked. I almost immediately found our current sitter and after we went to meet her, Jon and I both had a feeling of calm, and knew that it was the right move for Hailey – who was 22 months at the time. By the second day, she didn’t want to come home with me when I picked her up, and I felt more at ease than I had ever felt.
Well, its been over a year since then, and lots of things have changed. We still love our sitter and think she does a fantastic job with Hailey. She is very well taken care of and happy, and loves to be there, as much as she loves to be with us. But, the husband was laid off about 8 months ago, is still out of work, and things have become questionable. There were always little things that bothered me, but I try to be understanding, and patient, and keep hoping for things to go back to normal. But they haven’t – and they are now watching 9 small children and 4 after school care kids. There are constantly extra people around, and we didn’t see how they were going to be able to care for our new baby AND all of those kids. I talked to her about my concerns, and things seemed to improve, but then she started watching the ninth toddler, and that was my breaking point. There are a bunch of other reasons - like a pregnant dog, the addition of a bunny, smoking, but starting on Monday, Hailey will be going to a new sitter. It was a hard decision, but my gut told me that we needed to make a change.
Yes, I found the new sitter on craigslist too, and yes I know this is risky. But, I think its going to be good – I hope so anyway. She just quit her job to become a SAHM, and she is only going to watch her own son, Hailey, and another baby. Starting in September when I go back to work, she will watch the new baby, and Hailey will be going to preschool three days a week so she will only be there part time. The babysitter's name is Jen ( so of course she is fantastic) and she has a degree in therapeutic recreation and has been working in a nursing home for the past two years – so she is obviously a patient person, and well educated, and a mom. Hailey seemed very comfortable with her, and we are going to see her several times this weekend to try and help the transition go smoothly next week. I have high hopes for this!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Lets try this format :)
This is my fourth forum for keeping our family and friends updated about our whereabouts and adventures. I decided to try blogging this time because all my friends are doing it and I want to be like them. (I am serious) However, with this change I am hoping to post more often, and therefore my entries should be shorter and possibly more interesting.
This first one won’t be short though, because a lot of time has passed, and I have a lot to tell. I am not even going to try to be organized, because I am just trying to get everyone caught up!
I am pregnant, the baby is a girl, and I am due on July 12. Jon and I both truly believed that this baby was a boy, so we were quite surprised. All who know me well know how much I love and adore my sister, and how much I want Hailey to have a relationship just like it. Obviously I am happy that the baby is a girl, and Jon is too. He wants a boy, so I guess we may have to try one more time someday.
Hailey is very excited to have a baby sister. Periodically, just to be contrary, she will tell us that she wants a baby brother, not a baby sister. She also wants to name the baby Froggie or Oscar. Speaking of names, we have several picked out, but are not committing to one just yet. Some of you may remember that Hailey was going to be “Delaney” until about my eighth month of pregnancy, at which time I randomly decided that I like Hailey (which had always been one of our favorite names but was too common so we weren’t using it) too much not to use it. I also had the epiphany that my name is Jennifer, my husbands name is Jon, both of which are extremely common, and therefore, our child should have a common name. I had things embroidered with “Delaney” on them, and we have books that were given to Hailey with that name in them. From this experience, I learned that I need to wait to decide for sure. I will tell you that Aubrey and Gabriella are our current top choices, and her middle name will be some female form of Chris, for Jon’s brother.
In January, we joined the YMCA. Running outside became impossible rather quickly for me, as I am not allowed to do any exercise that has an impact. For six-ish weeks the doctors believed I had a low-lying placenta that was causing some minor bleeding. At my 20 week ultrasound it appeared that my placenta is properly located, but I am still limited to what I am allowed to do, as I am still periodically having mysterious incidents. The baby is fine, however, and is growing at the right pace, so we – and the doctors – aren’t too concerned.
When I was pregnant with Hailey, I did not exercise, and I gained 50 pounds. I would prefer for that not to happen again, and exercise is such a regular part of my routine now, I needed to find some alternative to running. In addition to that, Hailey needs some extracurricular activities. As a result, we are now proud members of the YMCA. I was afraid we would be your typical “it’s the new year we should join the gym and then never go” people, but we have been visiting the YMCA regularly, three to four times a week. We started Hailey in Parent-Child swim lessons, and the first session was on Friday evenings. Of course, this interfered with a certain family members attendance at roll call, and that was not my intention. I had no problem taking her myself, but Jon actually loves swim lessons with her and CHOSE to be there. I think he only missed one. We started a routine where he does her lesson or just does open swim with her, while I do some laps, and when I am finished we switch and he does his laps and I play. I was on the swim team in high school, so swimming is second nature to me, and I think I may be in better shape right now than I was before I was pregnant – my upper body at least. Hailey LOVES going to the “swimming house” and will pretty much do whatever she has to to get to go there. And, she is a natural fish. Before the end of the first session of classes she figured out how to swim by herself (she wears a backpack flotation belt) but she can get wherever she wants to go, in and out of the pool, and is not afraid to go under water. It amazes us, and she is so proud of herself. We had to take her backpack down a level to slow her down because she was doing so well.
As she doesn’t turn three until next month, she is in another session of Parent/Child swim lessons. This time, we are in a class with our friend Candie and her daughter Trinity, who is one of Hailey’s BFF’s. At this point she is ready to be in the next level of swim class, and would prefer to play instead of listen. Our class last week will go down as an incident of worst public behavior seen to date, and of course, Jon did not make it to this class. I had to remove her from the pool for screaming and hitting (me mostly). Eventually, she calmed down, and sort of listened. In the next level, she is on her own – no Mommy and Daddy – and I think that will enhance her listening skills. We have swim lessons tonight, and I am hoping that we will not have a repeat of last weeks performance.
Hailey now has a trampoline. Last summer I listened to my beloved Marsha and bought one of those blow up jumper things. She said her boys love it and they use it all the time. Well, it’s a pain to put up, and pain to put away, and Hailey uses it for about 2 minutes and is then off to something else. Our babysitter has a trampoline, but for the longest time she did not have a safety net, and therefore Hailey was not allowed on it. They finally got a safety net, and Hailey loves the trampoline, but she doesn’t get to use it as much as she would like because of how many kids are at the babysitters (more on that in a bit, its my childcare crisis drama) We have a great local Craigslist, which I check regularly (and by regularly, I mean multiple times every day) and on Saturday there was a very good deal on a very nice trampoline with a safety net that we are now the proud owners of. Hailey and Jon both love the trampoline and are out there as much as they can be. Fortunately we have had beautiful weather this week for all the jumping. Yesterday I even got up there and jumped in my big old pregnant condition. It probably was not the most low impact activity, but I was careful and it made my little girl happy. I will be selling the blow up jumper thing on craigslist.
So far Hailey has only hurt herself during the assembly of the trampoline and getting off the trampoline. During assembly, she was helping Jon, got bored, and decided to climb on top of the picnic table to get something. We have told her MANY times not to climb on the table, but again, she is not the best listener. Well, she fell on her head on the cement patio, and I heard her hit the ground from the couch inside. I think Jon almost had a heart attack. She cried, and we called Aunt Casa who is an expert on Toddler head injuries. (Casa is what Hailey calls my sister, whose name is Jessica. Hailey’s middle name is Jessica, but she will tell you it is Casa, and its not because she can’t say “Jessica”. She can, she just wants her name to be Casa) My nephew is a major klutz and has had more head bumps than any child I have ever known. Casa asked Hailey why she was climbing on the picnic table, and Hailey replied, tearfully, “Because I was trying to fall off!” The next day she told me that she isn’t going to climb on the picnic table any more because if she falls again she is going to get holes in her head like Mayme. I was confused, till I realized she was talking about her Snap-n-Style Cabbage Patch kid that Grandpa got her for Christmas. There are holes in Mayme’s head where the hair plugs go in. I agreed with Hailey that that is EXACTLY what would happen if she fell on her head again, and then all her brains would leak out.
I am glad we have the trampoline, but it scares the daylights out of me. When I was a little girl I was at a friend’s house and watched another girl do a flip right into the outer ring and knock her front 4 teeth out. I am in a constant state of fear whenever Hailey, or Jon, are on the trampoline, but she loves it so much and it gets some of her never ending energy out, so I tell myself it is worth it.
This first one won’t be short though, because a lot of time has passed, and I have a lot to tell. I am not even going to try to be organized, because I am just trying to get everyone caught up!
I am pregnant, the baby is a girl, and I am due on July 12. Jon and I both truly believed that this baby was a boy, so we were quite surprised. All who know me well know how much I love and adore my sister, and how much I want Hailey to have a relationship just like it. Obviously I am happy that the baby is a girl, and Jon is too. He wants a boy, so I guess we may have to try one more time someday.
Hailey is very excited to have a baby sister. Periodically, just to be contrary, she will tell us that she wants a baby brother, not a baby sister. She also wants to name the baby Froggie or Oscar. Speaking of names, we have several picked out, but are not committing to one just yet. Some of you may remember that Hailey was going to be “Delaney” until about my eighth month of pregnancy, at which time I randomly decided that I like Hailey (which had always been one of our favorite names but was too common so we weren’t using it) too much not to use it. I also had the epiphany that my name is Jennifer, my husbands name is Jon, both of which are extremely common, and therefore, our child should have a common name. I had things embroidered with “Delaney” on them, and we have books that were given to Hailey with that name in them. From this experience, I learned that I need to wait to decide for sure. I will tell you that Aubrey and Gabriella are our current top choices, and her middle name will be some female form of Chris, for Jon’s brother.
In January, we joined the YMCA. Running outside became impossible rather quickly for me, as I am not allowed to do any exercise that has an impact. For six-ish weeks the doctors believed I had a low-lying placenta that was causing some minor bleeding. At my 20 week ultrasound it appeared that my placenta is properly located, but I am still limited to what I am allowed to do, as I am still periodically having mysterious incidents. The baby is fine, however, and is growing at the right pace, so we – and the doctors – aren’t too concerned.
When I was pregnant with Hailey, I did not exercise, and I gained 50 pounds. I would prefer for that not to happen again, and exercise is such a regular part of my routine now, I needed to find some alternative to running. In addition to that, Hailey needs some extracurricular activities. As a result, we are now proud members of the YMCA. I was afraid we would be your typical “it’s the new year we should join the gym and then never go” people, but we have been visiting the YMCA regularly, three to four times a week. We started Hailey in Parent-Child swim lessons, and the first session was on Friday evenings. Of course, this interfered with a certain family members attendance at roll call, and that was not my intention. I had no problem taking her myself, but Jon actually loves swim lessons with her and CHOSE to be there. I think he only missed one. We started a routine where he does her lesson or just does open swim with her, while I do some laps, and when I am finished we switch and he does his laps and I play. I was on the swim team in high school, so swimming is second nature to me, and I think I may be in better shape right now than I was before I was pregnant – my upper body at least. Hailey LOVES going to the “swimming house” and will pretty much do whatever she has to to get to go there. And, she is a natural fish. Before the end of the first session of classes she figured out how to swim by herself (she wears a backpack flotation belt) but she can get wherever she wants to go, in and out of the pool, and is not afraid to go under water. It amazes us, and she is so proud of herself. We had to take her backpack down a level to slow her down because she was doing so well.
As she doesn’t turn three until next month, she is in another session of Parent/Child swim lessons. This time, we are in a class with our friend Candie and her daughter Trinity, who is one of Hailey’s BFF’s. At this point she is ready to be in the next level of swim class, and would prefer to play instead of listen. Our class last week will go down as an incident of worst public behavior seen to date, and of course, Jon did not make it to this class. I had to remove her from the pool for screaming and hitting (me mostly). Eventually, she calmed down, and sort of listened. In the next level, she is on her own – no Mommy and Daddy – and I think that will enhance her listening skills. We have swim lessons tonight, and I am hoping that we will not have a repeat of last weeks performance.
Hailey now has a trampoline. Last summer I listened to my beloved Marsha and bought one of those blow up jumper things. She said her boys love it and they use it all the time. Well, it’s a pain to put up, and pain to put away, and Hailey uses it for about 2 minutes and is then off to something else. Our babysitter has a trampoline, but for the longest time she did not have a safety net, and therefore Hailey was not allowed on it. They finally got a safety net, and Hailey loves the trampoline, but she doesn’t get to use it as much as she would like because of how many kids are at the babysitters (more on that in a bit, its my childcare crisis drama) We have a great local Craigslist, which I check regularly (and by regularly, I mean multiple times every day) and on Saturday there was a very good deal on a very nice trampoline with a safety net that we are now the proud owners of. Hailey and Jon both love the trampoline and are out there as much as they can be. Fortunately we have had beautiful weather this week for all the jumping. Yesterday I even got up there and jumped in my big old pregnant condition. It probably was not the most low impact activity, but I was careful and it made my little girl happy. I will be selling the blow up jumper thing on craigslist.
So far Hailey has only hurt herself during the assembly of the trampoline and getting off the trampoline. During assembly, she was helping Jon, got bored, and decided to climb on top of the picnic table to get something. We have told her MANY times not to climb on the table, but again, she is not the best listener. Well, she fell on her head on the cement patio, and I heard her hit the ground from the couch inside. I think Jon almost had a heart attack. She cried, and we called Aunt Casa who is an expert on Toddler head injuries. (Casa is what Hailey calls my sister, whose name is Jessica. Hailey’s middle name is Jessica, but she will tell you it is Casa, and its not because she can’t say “Jessica”. She can, she just wants her name to be Casa) My nephew is a major klutz and has had more head bumps than any child I have ever known. Casa asked Hailey why she was climbing on the picnic table, and Hailey replied, tearfully, “Because I was trying to fall off!” The next day she told me that she isn’t going to climb on the picnic table any more because if she falls again she is going to get holes in her head like Mayme. I was confused, till I realized she was talking about her Snap-n-Style Cabbage Patch kid that Grandpa got her for Christmas. There are holes in Mayme’s head where the hair plugs go in. I agreed with Hailey that that is EXACTLY what would happen if she fell on her head again, and then all her brains would leak out.
I am glad we have the trampoline, but it scares the daylights out of me. When I was a little girl I was at a friend’s house and watched another girl do a flip right into the outer ring and knock her front 4 teeth out. I am in a constant state of fear whenever Hailey, or Jon, are on the trampoline, but she loves it so much and it gets some of her never ending energy out, so I tell myself it is worth it.
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