Care To Dance?

Princess is having a ballerina birthday party for her 3rd birthday next month. Ballerina birthday supplies are surprisingly hard to come by so I'm searching Ebay and Etsy for decorations and making some myself.
Here's what I've got so far and what I'm planning to get:

Invitations from Ebay
http://bit.ly/i9MrTm

Possibly ballerina silhouette cupcake toppers from Etsy seller Two Sugar Babies
http://etsy.me/eCjLN6

Tutu Outfit
Made by Moi, of course! I'm almost finished with this. It includes a hairbow, tutu, matching tutu for her favorite doll, and applique shirt. Pics will be up on Facebook when it's done.
Here's a link to the album:
http://on.fb.me/f3fmGF

Ballerina Dress
Also made by Moi! I made one for Princess and one for her doll. I figured she probably won't want to wear a tutu for the whole party so now she has a backup outfit


Paper plates and plastic silverware
From a party store in colors that coordinate with the party theme

Ballerina Cake
Your basic bowl-shaped cake "skirt" with a barbie stuck in the top. Sounds tasty! Hope it turns out because I've never made one of these before.

Ballerina Garland
Designed and handcrafted by...Moi! Does anyone else think I'm putting too much work into a 3 year old's party?

I Told You So...

The plan for Christmas was to drive 6 hours on Christmas Eve to celebrate with relatives, then drive 6 hours back the day after Christmas. Except that we live in Minnesota where the record for the most snow in December has been surpassed this year and was added to on Christmas Eve. So we decided not to risk getting stuck somewhere with 2 small children and stay home instead. We missed spending time with family, but it sure was nice to be able to spend a quiet Christmas at home. Christmas morning, we did the stockings and gifts.  Little Man was thrilled with his toy puppy that barks and walks that Princess gave him (and that she keeps trying to take back since she loves it as much as he does). Princess got a dollhouse and accessories from Hubby and me. I had asked him before Christmas if he would help me put the dollhouse together so I could wrap it up. He told me to wrap it up in the box and we'd put it together on Christmas. Here's the conversation that took place Christmas morning after opening gifts:

Me: Didn't I tell you we should've put that dollhouse together a week ago?

Hubby: Part of the fun of (Stupid hinges!) Christmas is (These directions are worthless!) watching someone put your toys together (throws screwdriver in frustration)

Princess: I wanna play! Waaaaaa!



So yeah, next year we're assembling all toys in advance.
My kids have a very special tradition of either being sick or cranky on major holidays. Not being the kind of kids who break tradition, they were (thankfully) both healthy, but crabby.  Little Man wasn't too bad since he's easily distracted with a toy or pacifier, but Princess was....well, let's just say that if there was a Santa, he probably would've come over last night to take back all her toys.

Here's the loot. Keep in mind that these are just the gifts Hubby and I bestowed upon our little angels. This does not include gifts from friends, relatives, etc..



Big news that I'm very excited about since potty training turned out to be such a nightmare.  Princess is fully trained. I know I put that in the last post too, but yesterday (Merry Christmas!) we took the last step and let her sleep in her big girl "unners" instead of changing into a pull-up because it had been over a week since she had an accident, sleeping or awake. We're done!!!!! Just one in diapers! And this time around, I absolutely refuse to start potty training until he's good and ready. I don't care how much pressure I get from people, if they want him potty trained earlier, they can do it themselves.

Unsolicited Advice: I think this goes without saying, but assemble all toys before the Big Day. Oh, and it probably isn't a bad idea to remove all toys from their packaging so you don't have the traditional "I want it now!" tantrum.

Profound Thoughts....HA!

I had something very profound to write and then Princess decided to stand right next to me and throw a fit because I won't give her a potty treat until she actually goes potty. Profound thoughts go straight out the window when a child is throwing a tantrum near me. As you can guess, I don't have too many profound thoughts anymore.

Methinks Princess may be a bit spoiled. For her birthday I'm making her a tutu outfit which includes a tutu, applique shirt, hairbow, and matching tutu for "Mink Baby" (her favorite doll which just happens to have a pink outfit). I'm also making her a pillowcase dress and matching dress for Mink Baby. Everything will, of course, be ballet theme. She is my little Princess and my little ballerina. She loves anything frilly and girly and the pinker the better. At a garage sale last fall, I found a Disney dress that is pink with tulle for the skirt and sparkles. I held it up and asked Princess if she wanted me to get it for her. She responded by attempting to strip off her clothes right then and there so she could put it on. I managed to keep her clothes on her until we got home, but then she HAD to wear the dress. Since that time, the dress is either in the laundry basket or on Louise.

Hmmmm, I was going to insert a picture of Princess wearing the famous Princess dress here, but upon reviewing my photo records, I see that, despite how much she wears her dress, we have not taken one picture of it.

Anyways, I'm writing this blog about my children, but as of this second I am telling Princess to stop bugging me so I can finish writing. This kind of defeats the purpose. This is to help me appreciate my children more, but here I am neglecting one of them so I can write. Time to go!

Unsolicited Advice:
Now is the time of year when joy and goodwill toward men abound. It's also a good time to get back at your now-married-with-a-baby brother-in-law who gave your kids the most annoying toy in the world two years ago.

Too long

Has it really been 4 months since I last blogged? Seriously, I've been so busy I've barely had time to pee let alone, stop and write an entire blog post. I'm not kidding about peeing either. At least once a week, I'll go into the bathroom to brush Princess's teeth and realize that I haven't been in that room since before breakfast. Thankfully, this generally happens while I'm in the bathroom so there is a toilet very conveniently place, saving me from having to explain to my potty training 2 year old why Mommy just had an accident.

Speaking of a potty training 2 year old....she's potty trained!!! After 1 1/2 years of trying EVERYTHING, she decided last week that she was ready. And that was that. A very good friend of ours was around when Princess wet her pants and made sure Princess knew how disappointed she was in her. Apparently, that was all it took and I wish we'd tried that a year ago!

Ever since I got pregnant with Little Man, I've had an issue with my temper. More like I've had an issue with losing it. I've had very little patience with anyone. At first, I wrote this off to pregnancy hormones. Then I had the baby and was still frustrated with every little thing (The milk cap fell on the floor?!?! Someone must die!!!) so I wrote it off as new baby hormones which we all know can be pretty wicked. Then I stopped nursing, baby stopped screaming 21/7, and things got much easier. And I was still seeing red. Being home with me all day, poor Princess bore the brunt of my temper, although Hubby got more than his fair share as well. He'd walk in the door at the end of the day and I would realize that here was someone I could yell at without worrying about paying therapy bills in 13 years. Recently, I sat myself down and had a talk with myself (should I be worried about this?) about how I needed to get myself under control. As I sat there, lecturing myself and getting angry with myself for lecturing myself, I realize that it had been several months since I'd opened my Bible outside of church. Hmmmm.... Now I'm back in the Word everyday and things have gotten better. Why do I always let things get so bad before I turn to Jesus and give everything over to him?

My New Boutique

I'm so excited! With the help of my sister, I recently started on online baby boutique, Annalie's Baby Boutique. It's been up for less than three weeks now and we've had a good response to it. I've been having so much fun designing and making baby and boutique things. Hubby has been having fun watching my supplies take over the living room and our credit card balance hit alarmingly high levels. You gotta spend money to make money, right? :) Because the boutique is online, I've been spending a lot of time on the computer promoting the business and updating the store. Hubby has begun to drop hints about our energy usage around here and asked me the other night if I was ever going to come sit by him on the couch instead of sitting with my new boyfriend, Mr. Acer Computer. I told him that Mr. Computer is always there when I need him (except for when the wireless goes out) and loves to take me shopping so... The housework has also been a victim of the boutique. Dear Hubby made the mistake of informing me that just because I have a "little hobby", it did not give me the right to neglect my real job. The next day, I persuaded (with a little threatening speech) my younger sister to help me turn my city dump back into a pleasant dwelling and let Hubby know how I really feel about him choosing The Farm over his Honey-Do list at home. That evening, he promised (of his own free will) to help out more around the house.

Anyways, gotta go try out my new sewing machine. The one I was using was over 30 years old and decided to retire last Wednesday so I went shopping again today. ("Do you take a visa card that's dangerously close to it's spending limit?")

Unsolicited Advice:
Check out my boutique. No, really. Do it. And tell your friends.
www.facebook.com/annaliesbabyboutique
www.annaliesbabyboutique.etsy.com

My Bouncing Baby Boy

I love Little Man. He smiles easily and has started laughing although I'm not sure if he's laughing because he's happy or if he's laughing at me.

Little Man is also pretty challenging. The only way to get him to sleep is to swaddle him tightly, give him a pacifier, throw a blanket over his face, and bounce him. I have an exercise ball that I spend several hours a day on...not exercising, but bouncing Little Man, who is quite literally my bouncing baby boy. If I forget to cover Little Man's face with a blanket while trying to convince him that he needs at least one nap during the day, he simply will not close his eyes. My theory is that he never has actually fallen asleep, but simply passes out from lack of oxygen due to having his face covered. Don't worry though. When he falls asleep, I pull the blanket off his face so he can revive himself within 11 minutes and then proceed to scream for the next two hours because he's so tired.

Little Man may view falling asleep as tantamount to having his fingernails pulled out one by one, and he may have issues with taking a nap that's longer than 17 minutes at at time, but he does sleep through the night. So my days are frustrating and long while my nights are peaceful and full of sleep. When I'm out somewhere and Little Man is screaming his head off like I've forgotten to feed him for a week, I get looks of pity which turn into deep sympathy when I explain that this is what he does EVERY TIME he gets tired. Then, I usually make the mistake of saying, "Well, at least he sleeps through the night." At that point, most people roll their eyes and tell me that I don't know how good I have it. I'll agree with that. I've been blessed with two children who, so far, (knock on wood, cross fingers, pray HARD) are good at sleeping during the night, but lack that skill during the day. However, people don't have much sympathy for a mom with a "high-needs" baby if that baby sleeps through the night. Guess I don't blame them though. I'd much rather that Little Man is a bear during the day as long as he sleeps all night.

Unsolicited Advice:
When taking laundry out of the dryer, fold it and stack it in the laundry basket instead of just dumping it all in. This ensures that, even if you don't have time to even look at the basket of clothes again until you actually need to wear something out of it, you will at least find folded clothes instead of a wrinkled mess.

Why Won't You Stop Asking Me Why?

I hate the word "why." And if you ask me why, I'll probably bite your head off. So please don't ask, let me just tell you. Princess is in the "why" stage. She has been for a while, and at first, I thought it was cute that she wanted to learn so much. Now, she seems to think that no matter what I say, I expect her to follow up with "Why?"
Me: "Princess, you just stepped on your sunglasses and broke them."
Princess: "Why?"
Me: "I don't know why you did that."
Princess: "Why?"
Me: "Because I have no idea why you do most of the things you do."
Princess: "Why?"
Me: "Because 2 year olds are inexplicable."
Princess "Why?"
Me: (Pulls out hair in frustration) "Stop asking me why! I don't know why!!"
Princess: "Why?"
Me: (Screams and locks self in bathroom)
Princess: (Bangs on bathroom door) "Why?"
So yeah...not so cute anymore.

Have you ever noticed that people are never happy with how many children you have or don't have? After the wedding ceremony, people (especially prospective grandmas) sidle up to you at the reception with a glint in their eye and casually ask how long you plan to wait before having kids. Five months later, the same question is posed, but this time with a vague sense of urgency. A year later, people start slipping you brochures with titles like "How to Overcome Infertility" and "Babies: A Fulfilling Experience"

When you finally cave and become pregnant, complete strangers feel as if it's acceptable for them to add their opinion. Questions arise as to the number of babies you are carrying even though you've had two ultrasounds to prove that there really is only one baby in there. Fast forward to when the baby is 6 months old. People start to whisper behind your back. "Do you think she'll have another soon?" It's almost as if, since you've proven your ability to create a new life, they expect you to pop out another one within the year. After you've had your second baby, some people start to change their tack. Instead of pushing you in the direction of pregnancy, they tell you how you now have the perfect pair and don't need any more. Others will still hold out hope that you continue to have more. If you dare to become pregnant again, you will receive advice on how three children is really a difficult number to have because someone is always left out. About half of the people telling you this are trying to make you feel guilty for bringing another life into this world, the other half are telling you to have one more to even things up a bit. When you bring home your fourth baby, with only a few rare exceptions, people will begin giving you literature on the dangers of overpopulation and asking you how you can possibly handle so many little people hanging on you all day long.

Unsolicited Advice:
One of the best things about having kids is that they make great gift ideas. I don't mean you should wrap your 10 month old up and give him away at Christmas time, but pictures of your kids or personalized items with pictures of your kids make great gifts for relatives (your boss at work may not be too impressed with a mug showing off your children's "silly" faces).

Is It Really Worth It?

I'm a big fan of breastfeeding. I know the health benefits and I appreciate the bonding aspect of it as well. Although Princess wasn't a good nurser, I still nursed her for a year. She didn't nurse exclusively because she was such a lazy eater that she didn't get enough that way, so she did have formula as well. But when you consider how hard it was to teach her how to latch on and then to keep her sucking long enough to get a full meal, a year is pretty impressive.

I was planning to breastfeed Little Man for a year as well. Now, I want to be done as soon as possible. It's been a nightmare to nurse him since the day he was born. He has problems latching on so I have to use a nipple shield. Then he screams and gets angry if milk isn't pouring into his mouth the whole time so about half the time I have to fight to get him to stay on the breast long enough. I can't take him anywhere because he refuses to nurse anywhere but home. Occasionally I can get him to nurse when we're out somewhere, but usually I end up giving him a bottle. Then I started getting plugged milk ducts, which are pretty painful. One of those led to a pretty bad case of mastitis which took over a week to clear up completely. Since the mastitis, I've been getting a plugged duct almost every day. I also got mastitis again, but since I'd just had it, I knew how to treat it right away to keep it from getting worse.

Breastfeeding has NOT been a bonding experience at all with Little Man. In fact, it's actually kept me from bonding with him somewhat. He has flatout refused to nurse more than once or twice a day for the last week which means I get to haul out the good old breastpump and vacuum out my breasts multiple times a day. Yay. I would love to just stop nursing, but with my issues with plugged ducts and mastitis, I have to go VERY slow so I don't end up with a bad infection.

The lactation consultants and breastfeeding advocates I've talked to have been discouraging me from weaning Little Man. They keep saying that if I just pump, I'll get my milk supply up enough, and I shouldn't be giving him bottles because that's just making the problem worse. I've gotten so many tips on how to get him to latch on, how to relax and enjoy nursing, etc. But, you know what? None of these people are here when Little Man is screaming and turning purple because I'm trying to get him to nurse while Princess is in the bathroom using my toothbrush to clean the diaper pail. So while I still support breastfeeding and believe it's the best option for the baby, I also believe that if it's not working and it's making the mom miserable, IT'S NOT WORTH IT! By the way, the breastfeeding advocates I've talked to all had an easy time nursing, so they really can't judge me for bottle feeding.

And yet, no matter how much I'm looking forward to being done breastfeeding, I'm sad that it didn't work out. I enjoyed nursing Princess and only gave it up at a year because so many people told me that she was "too old" to breastfeed anymore. I know I'll second guess myself later and wonder if I'd tried more, if I could've breastfed Little Man longer. And anytime Little Man gets sick, I'll wish I'd been able to nurse him longer to give him more antibodies. I wavered on my decision to stop breastfeeding for over a month until I got mastitis and decided for sure. But even now, I find myself thinking that if Little Man is my last baby, I'll never get the chance to breastfeed again. However, no matter what decision I'd made about breastfeeding, I think mommy guilt would've kicked in.

Unsolicited Advice:
Breastfeed if you can, but if you can't for any reason, don't sweat it.

Baby Stuff I Love

Apparently I'm not loyal to any one brand. These are some of my favorite brands of baby products.

Boppy pillow: Works great for breastfeeding, bottle feeding, and propping up the baby while he or she is learning how to sit.

Boppy Bare Naked Pillow

Avent bottles and training cups: I love that the nipples are marked with a number indicating how fast the flow of milk is, unlike other nipples which you have to guess at. I also like the wide mouth of the bottle because I don't spill the formula when putting it in the bottle. I used the training cups when Princess was transitioning from a bottle to a sippy. The handles and sippy top screw onto the bottles as well so I didn't have to take a bottle AND a sippy cup when we went out.

Philips AVENT BPA Free Infant Bottle Starter Set

Nuby sippy cups: The soft top makes the transition from bottle to sippy easier on baby.

Nuby 2-Pack 8 oz No Spill Cup with Super Spout

Mam pacifiers: Louise's cheeks and chin broke out everytime she used a pacifier until I found the Mam pacifiers which have dimples on the underside and holes for air ventilation.

MAM 2 Pack Start Orthodontic Silicone Pacifier, Colors may vary

Jeep stroller: I LOVE my jeep stroller. I got an all terrain jeep stroller as a gift for Louise and I used it a lot. It's big and roomy with plenty of storage, has an mp3 hookup, and can navigate rough terrain which is a must since I live out in the country.

Jeep Liberty Limited Urban Terrain Stroller, Spark

Members Mark baby wipes: Reasonably priced at Sam's Club, and the packages come with a pop up lid so you can use them straight out of the package or refill your wipes case with them.

Member's Mark Folded Moist Wipes, Case Pack, 8/90 Count (720 Wipes)

Carter's clothes: Cute clothes, reasonable prices. Need I say more?

Carter's Boys Firetruck 3 Pc Shorts Set 2 in 1 Outfits

Carter's Pink & White Love 3-pc. Bodysuit Set

Sassy toys: Sassy makes some really cute baby toys with bright colors.

Sassy Illumination Station

JJ Cole Diaper bag and pacifier keeper: After going through 3 diaper bags which ripped after a few months of use, I splurged and bought a JJ Cole Mode Tote Bag in the cocoa tree design. I haven't been disappointed. It's heavy duty, comes with shoulder straps, hand straps, and stroller straps, a large changing pad that folds up really thin so it's easy to carry with, and is roomy enough for all the junk I carry around with me. I also like the pacifier keeper JJ Cole makes. It's a good size, straps onto any bag or stroller, and has a velcro closure that makes it easy to get to the pacifier.

JJ Cole Mode Diaper Tote Bag, Cocoa Tree

What are some of your favorites for baby gear?


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Survived Month One!

Little Man is a month old this week and still not nursing well. He eats nonstop, which Princess is thrilled about because that means she can pretty much do whatever she wants, and I can't stop her until Little Man stops eating for a few minutes. Because Little Man eats so frequently and has a VERY hard time nursing anywhere other than home, we've been pretty much housebound since he was born. I'm giving him one more month to start nursing better and less often before I start supplementing with formula. I've given him a few bottles so far, and I enjoy feeding him that way. Nursing, on the other hand, feels more like a chore right now and I honestly don't enjoy it. So much for that bonding experience.

Little Man is a great sleeper. He takes a long nap in the afternoon at the same time as Princess which gives me a little downtime, and he only wakes up once at night to eat. The only problem is getting him to sleep. The long nap in the afternoon is usually his ONLY nap all day and he fights it like crazy even though he's so tired he can barely keep his eyes open. Bedtime is a fun event that starts around 6 pm when Little Man starts getting tired. It stretches out into a marathon of nursing/crying that doesn't end until almost midnight. He's been doing this for several weeks now.  Princess was hard to get to sleep too, but Little Man is worse and started at a much younger age than his sister.

Okay, enough of the griping. I have some observations about baby clothing to share.

1. Pockets.
Seriously. Why in the world do baby clothes, starting at newborn sizes, have pockets in the pants? Every once in a while, I'll run across a fake pocket that doesn't actually open and is for decorative purposes, but most of them aren't like that. They're real, honest-to-goodness, stick your hand in 'em, pockets. It makes me feel as if I should provide my one-month-old with a wallet filled with diaper coupons, a stroller license, and maybe some monopoly money.

2. Belt Loops.
How many newborns do you know that wear belts? To be honest, my skinny little baby boy could do with a belt to hold his pants up, but I haven't come across any belts that are small enough for a baby younger than 2 years old. Maybe I should market a new line of baby belts and take advantage of the otherwise pointless belt loops stitched onto many pairs of baby pants.

3. Snaps.
Yes, I'm thankful that baby clothes isn't inundated with tiny buttons instead of the easier option of snaps, but still... I can't count how many times I've wrestled a screaming baby into an outfit, fought with a myriad of snaps around the neck and legs, and realized when I get down to the last snap that I'm one off. I have no idea what would be a better alternative, but all those snaps still annoy me. My favorite outfits are the sleepers with an easy (and fast) zipper from foot to collar, and a onesie I found at a garage sale that has a strip of velcro instead of snaps in the crotch.