Wow. What a day so far.

I took a friend to the airport at 4am this morning. Sounded like a perfectly reasonable request at the time, but when my alarm went off at 340am, just 30 minutes after getting Karl back down after his 3am feeding, it wasn't so reasonable anymore. Plus, Karl's "2 month" pediatrician appointment was at 9am which meant I wasn't going to be able to veg out all day.

I left the house at 355am and was back at home and in bed at 5am. I was wide awake. I started to tire a bit and then what do you know? Karl was up crying at 530am. A total non scheduled feeding time, so I got out of bed, gave him a bit of the boob and he was back out, in his crib at 545am. I listened to him fuss for about 15 minutes and he was out.

7ooam and the girls are now awake and I've been sleeping for less than an hour. I think Tom thought Karl was in the living room (had been sleeping in his swing due to grandma having his room for a week) and was trying to get the girls to be quiet cause I was sleeping but couldn't have them go into the living room either. I mutter "he's in his crib" and out they were quickly shuttled out the door.

730am, Tom is standing in front of me with a crying baby in his arms asking me if I want to get up and nurse him. I mutter something about bottle of breastmilk in fridge from pumping last night and back out I was.

Later on, no idea when, I hear Ella throwing a complete and utter fit. Almost enough for me to get up to find out what the issue was, but not quite enough. Tom was handling it. And then I hear the cry stop and the front door close. And them Tom's car start. Um. WTF? I glance at the clock. 8:49am. My appointment, 15 minutes away, is in 9 minutes. I FLY out of bed. I pull on the clothes I wore to the airport which were laying across the footboard of the bed. I run into bathroom, pee and pull my hair back. I have NO idea what I look like and I don't care. I run out into living room and find Karl sleeping in the swing. I pull him out and put him in carseat with jammies on. I run into nursery and get a set of clothes to change him into at Drs office. I'm in the car at 8:58am. I'm off. I call the Dr's office, let them know I'm late and ask them if they just want me to reschedule. They are cool with it and tell me to come in. Many apologies later, I'm there.

Karl is doing great! At 10w5d, he weighs 11lbs 6ozs. Amazing. I know I've done this with 3 babies now, but the fact that ~I~ am nourishing my children with mostly 100% breastmilk (due to all my medical issues and need for medication, i have had to give karl a few bottles of formula) and they thrive. I am so proud of myself for this achievement. I am so proud of my boobies.

He's in the 50th %tile for weight and 25th for height at 21.5". Pretty short dude. Ella was always in the 95th %tile in height and Allison was around 80%.

He did NOT get his shots, which pissed me off a bit, but I understood the issue. They explained the reason they didn't have the vaccinations and it's okay, but I wish I would have known ahead of time. I have to take him down to the health department's immunization clinic, which hopefully won't be a huge hassle, but I gotta do what I gotta do. My appointment is next wednesday, so I'll still be able to get his 4 month shots on time, as there will be at least 4 weeks in between them.

It's snowing now and hopefully I'll have a nice and quiet day with the little man. Tom leaves for Dallas in the wee hours of the morning so today is my last day of peacefulness until Sunday when he returns.

I am no longer scared of scrotum.

When I first had Karl, I was a crazy diaper changer. It took me forever because I just didn't know how in the world to clean him. Well, I ~knew~, not too hard to clean someone - just clean until it's not dirty anymore. But I was scared. Oh, how I was scared of that little tiny penis and testicle bag.

Now I have noticed I am a pro. I can clean a blowout in no time at all.

That's kind of a funny post.

quickie video

Now that I know my camera video function works, here is a quick video introducing a sleeping Karl, me looking terrible (I'm still post surgery and it's nighttime!), my mother in law and my hubby.

Thank You Eden.

This is the shirt Tom *picked out when **getting karl dressed when he ***went grocery shopping and took ****karl with him.


* I think it's an awesome shirt and thought it was even awsome-er tom picked it.
** Pretty fucking cool tom gets the kid dressed without me ever having to ask
*** Pretty fucking-er cool-er that he went grocery shopping.
**** AND he took the baby WITH HIM. After deciding what to wear. After dressing him. After deciding to go grocery shopping. He took the baby too so I could rest. I ~lurve~ my husband.

ICLW Introduction.

Welcome to yet another kickoff of ICLW! I read Kym's blog today and I saw she did a little introduction using the ABCs. So I am totally stealing her idea.

Allison is the name of my middle child, now 3 1/2 years old.
Ballerinas is what my girls like to play dress up as.
Children are the highlight of my life. I wish I started earlier so I could have more, but then again, I'm glad I waited and did everything I did in life before having children. For me, the timing works.
Double blogger - I have two blogs and I am participating in March ICLW for both of them. This means I'll be leaving double the comments and writing double the posts. I am doing the ABCs for both blogs and there will be some double information, but this will be the only post that won't be different from one another.
Ella is the name of my oldest daughter. She will be turning 5 years old next month.
Fuck is my favoritist word and I use it. A lot. Even in front of the kids. But my kids know it's a bad word and they don't say it themselves. I see the world we live in today and it's not a word they won't hear. I'll protect them from a lot of things in this world, but cursing isn't something I think I need to spend my time protecting them from.
Grover is my favorite muppet. I still have my stuffed animal from my childhood and now it's one of the many stuffed animals my girls have.
Heaven is a nice concept, but I don't believe in it. I wish I did, as it would make dying a less scary thing, but it's just something I can't fit into my head.
Infertility is something I have dealt with, but was lucky enough to be able to put it in my past. Although it'll never be something I forget as it's definitely still a part of me, I count my blessings everyday as it's something no longer running my life as it had for so many years. There are a lot of girls who tell me I'm not infertile because I have had 3 children, but I think all the fertility shit I went through counts as membership to the IF club. The club I wish no one ever had to be a member of. My TTC history and my fight with infertility is listed on my other blog - thenewlifeofnancy.
Jesus is not my co-pilot. But this does not mean I am not spiritual. I do believe in a higher power, but I just don't think anyone has, or even can, define it. I'm stuggling right now as to how I am going to go about bringing religion into my children's life. How can you question something you are never made to think about?
Karl is the name of my youngest child, who is 10 weeks old today. He is my last baby.
Love. I think it's the most important thing to open your heart for. Don't be scared of it.
Marriage. I waited until I was 28 to get married. I was engaged at 21, but it was to a different boy. I'm really glad I agreed to a long engagement when I was too young to get married (in my opinion) because I was a different person back then.
Nancy is my name and I go through periods where I do not like it.
Opportunity doesn't only knock once. I believe life if what you make of it - and you can change it around whenever you choose.
Punk rock is my favorite type of music.
Quiet is something that my house is ~not~ and probably will never be - at least while I have 3 kids in the house.
Roller derby is the sport I am active in.
Sterile is what I am. I went through the "Essure" procedure which I had the doctor thread wires up my fallopian tubes which scars them from the inside.
Tom is my hubby's name. We've been married for almost 8 years.
Umbrellas are things my girls simply love. I think they have 2 or 3 each.
Vagina is what I was going to use when talking about body parts to my children. I have yet to use it with them, although all other words are used correctly.
Wonderful is how I would describe my life. It's not perfect and there are problems all around, but the good definitely outweighs the bad.
Xray vision is something I do ~not~ possess.
Yellow doesn't look good on me. I'm naturally blonde and I'm very fair skinned so many of the shades of yellow just wash me out. Sometimes I can find a good shade I can wear though.
Zebra is an animal my friend Pete saw running down the side of the freeway. Apparently it had escaped from the circus.

I hope to get to know some new people this month!

What's the sound your hair makes as you pull it out by the roots?

Because that is the sound surrounding me right now.

I have been out of town, at my inlaws, since Friday morning. I took the kids with me, sans husband, to visit their grandparents. Hubby came up late saturday afternoon and left early evening sunday. Except while he was there, I didn't even really see him. He took off with his dad on Saturday to go shooting (such a man thing to do) and then he left before I woke up on Sunday to go skiing, leaving back to go home pretty much within an hour after returning home from the mountain. So I was pretty much a single mommy to the 2 girls and the baby for all 5 days. Yeah, the inlaws do "help" with the kids, but more in the entertainment area, leaving all the "work" to me.

It wasn't too bad. I was pretty exhausted taking care of Karl because wasn't able to take any breaks during his fussy times. If he was crying, he was all mine. If he was happy, then the grandparents loved soaking up the smiles. Nighttime sucked because I had to share my room with Karl and babies make all sorts of noises while they sleep. I can not understand how in the world some parents share rooms with their newborns. Oh, and naps were continuously interrupted due to loud, booming voices (seriously, they are the loudest people on the planet) and a barking dog (which is treated as a child without any form of discipline). Thank god I bought a travel swing before taking the trip - for the times he did sleep, that was my life saver.

The dog. Oh the dog. Okay, confession. I ~hate~ their dog. Sure, when he's calm at night I don't mind giving him attention. But him being calm takes up maybe 2% of his personality. This dog is horrible, but they treat him like an only child. They love him so much, I really think they can see no wrong with this dog. He is ~so~ bad. He barks when my MIL has food (but doesn't bark when I was alone and had food). He does ~not~ listen to anyone's direction. He had ~no~ discipline due to the empty threats he's given. No matter what the dog does, they yell "Go lay down on your bed!" but then never make the dog actual go do it. The dog doesn't even flinch at the word "No!". The dog will steal your food if you leave it unguarded for even a moment. All food has to be put up high or the dog will eat it from the counters. Really. I've seen this dog eat sticks of butter. This weekend he got a bag of sunflower seeds and ate it all. He also stole and ate an entire loaf of bread. And what happens when he does this? They yell "No!" at him without any consequence. He knocked over my little girl once and stole her food, seriously freaking her out and I lost it. I smacked his hiney and said "No!". What happened? ~I~ was yelled at for smacking the dog. WhatEVER. The dog has to be leashed during meals so he doesn't come up from under the table and steal the kids' food directly from the table. And they don't see this as anything wrong.

I know this dog's behavior is all due to lack of training and not the dog himself, but what can I do? The dog rules the house and they see nothing wrong with it. They have completely changed the way they live to work with the dog's behavior. Instead of training the dog, they change their own behavior. And my inlaws are very intelligent people. It completely mystifies me. Really. I don't understand it. This dog is the only reason I do not like to visit them. And I really like my inlaws too. They have a nice house and going there is like a mini vacation. Well, a mini vacation with cujo having the run of the house. Crazy. The dog doesn't screw with me though, as I am obviously superior to him and he knows that. I don't take shit from him and I refuse to let him get away with anything involving my children. Of course the children don't know how to act superior to him, so the dog still goes for them, but when I'm there, he watches his step. Grrr. This is all pissing me off all over again. And I've already said it, but I really do not understand how my inlaws let this dog act like he does. They are such intelligent people! Mystifying.

And now we are finally home and the girls are acting like assholes. Yes, these 2 cute little girls can actually be major assholes. And I'm about to pull out the last of my hair.

The "R Us" stores are evil.

I stopped at BRU today to get a travel swing. I'm heading to my inlaws (without hubby) in the morning and we need a swing or I'll lose my sanity. I ended up out of the store without getting anything extra like I usually do and only had to pay for what I expected to pay for.

As I'm leaving, my mother in law calls and asks me to pick up a booster seat for her house (for allie) and I was all "I just left there!" but decided to go to Toys R Us instead to pick it up. I wanted to get some lap-tables for the girls to have to color on during our drive since I won't have anyone else in the car to help me with dealing with their requests. I went in and made the mistake of "looking around" and especially did the wrong thing when I went into the video game aisle. I left with a $487 purchase. And I didn't even get the effing booster seat! Back to BRU for the booster seat, but I got out, once again, with just that one item.

It used to be going to the gap or old navy where I'd always get tons of shit for myself. Now I blow all my money in kid stores. Argh!! See what being a mom does to us shop-a-holics?

My three kids.

Have I put up a picture of all three of them together yet? Here is one ...


Ella is so photogenic. Allie is in that weird awkward smiling stage, so I just cropped her out. What an awesome mom I am, eh? ...


Heh. Speaking of being an awesome mom, I love crying pictures ...


I took all three kids swimming today. It's in one of those wading pools, so the girls got to splash around in ankle to waist deep water while I hung out with Karl. He seemed to like it a lot, but I knew he would since he loves baths. Get that boy naked and put him in warm water? Bliss.


My question I post to you today ... How much do you think the parents have to do with a kid's ~early~ ability to be cool?

Spring forward my ass.

I don't know why they call it spring forward. I mean, yeah, I get it, but losing an hour doesn't make me want to spring anywhere, much less forward. I woke up at 7am, well, 8am with the adjusted time, and I was exhausted. I just sat there with the baby in my lap trying to convince my body I needed to start to function. Tom must have noticed as he scooped the baby up and told me to try to get back to sleep. "Try". Heh. I was asleep in a matter of seconds. I woke up 3 1/2 hours later. My husband rules.

My day, so far, has consisted of this. Sitting at the computer, checking up on a few things. Karl is on my lap, as always, sound asleep ...


The flash woke him up a bit though, as you can see after I took that first picture, he now looks quite irritated...


He was grumpy yesterday, so I put him in the bjorn, bouncing him around the house. As you can see here, you can tell he's not the happiest baby on the block. Tom took the picture in mid-kiss. I'm not blowing on his head...


I like this picture because you can see Ella in the background - and we both have the same hairdo. Actually, since it's just a quick bun, it's really a hairdon't...


No matter how much I tried, I couldn't make the boy look happy...


The girls, on the other hand, were happy. They wanted to paint, so I hooked them up. This is post painting and they are cleaning up. Allie is on a pants strike right now...


And seriously. Is there anything cuter?


Hrm. I'm struggling with this mommy blog. I can post all the pictures I want, but that gives nothing to say in response. I mean, how many times can you say "cute pictures"?

I have to come up with something to talk about. Maybe I'll ask a question about parenting or something. Let's see how that goes.

What are your opinions of spanking?

Us? We spank. Not hard of course, but enough to sting and get our point across. And how do we rationalize the rule of "no hitting" yet we hit? For us, there is no rationalization to do. We talk about it head on and explain that spanking is not random hitting. It's a tool mommies and daddies use for punishment. How we never want to spank, but sometimes, their behavior is what makes us have to spank.

updated to add - Our type of "spanking" is not the over the knee, ass spanking. But more like a quick backhanded sting with the backs of our fingers (not whole hand) to the butt or arm.

Randomness

Not much going on, so a quick bulleted drive-by-blogging ...

~ Karl is doing fantastic. He is quite the mild mannered baby. Definitely the "best" of my three. Ella cried and went on and on all the time. Allison had a shrill, ear piercing scream as her regular cry, which was hellish. Karl cries, but just not that much. Nor is he really loud. The best part of his little cry is it comes out in little bursts starting with "Ma!" I know he's not actually saying "ma", of course, but listening to the word in every cry makes it a little easier on the ears. I think it's cute. He also has this little studder cry which I actually adore.

~ His eyes are still a stunning blue.

~ Breastfeeding is going along swimmingly. I have moments where it's still hard, like when I don't have supply ~ready~ for some reason (it's like I'm just on empty) and poor little man gets pissed cause he's hungry. But it always resolves itself within an hour or so. It makes me wonder how many women give up because of this. If I didn't know how my body worked, I would simply think I was having supply problems. I probably wouldn't know my body would resolve the issue by making more the next time. I'd probably be afraid my baby was starving and opt for a bottle of formula. But instead, I hold off and deal with a hungry and cranky baby for a little bit until my milk comes in. The easiest thing to do is allow him to just allow him to suck on an empty breast for as long as it takes - although when really hungry, this pisses him off. But I find that when I let him just suck, my milk comes in faster.

~ Smiles! He's been smiling for awhile now, but nothing else. No "talking" except for a few random coos, no laughing. I'm bummed he's taking his time on those - I love them so much! He's doing awesome on the physical side though - holding his head totally upright while on his tummy. I can even use the bumbo seat, as he has complete head control.

~ The girls are also doing very well. Ella is almost 5 years old. I'm freaking out. Kindergarten registration is next Friday (but I already turned in all the paperwork, I'm not sure why I have to go again. I have to call.) Allison has turned into a little girl in front of my eyes. She is no longer my baby at ALL. She's such a big girl. My goodness, it happened so fast.


I just love the smiles! ...




This one was taken this very moment. It's where he usually hangs out (on the boppy, on my lap) while I blog ...




And here is Allison, playing little chef (ella was supposed to be in the picture, but apparently Allie got too close to her and she was reduced to tears. Love the drama.) ...

Lookie! Lookie!

The mailman came yesterday, carrying with him a package from the beautiful and wonderful blogger friend of mine, Jenn. It seems Jenn and I are total twin souls, although we are a bit under seven years apart in age. Everytime we talk, we find something more alike in one another, but we're different enough to learn from one another too. We're definitely going to meet someday. That's for sure.

So, this gift had two onesies for Karl which Jenn just knew I would love (like when Eden sent me the shirt for Karl with "I love boobies!" on it). She found the transfers and got them on the onsies herself. Extra credit for making something! (speaking of making something, Pam gave me a little peek at something she is making me and I'm floored! I'm ~so~ excited.) And she was right. I do love them.

First up is this one. Heh. SO me. SO perfect.




Next is this one. Which I must say, is my favorite. Well, maybe not. I love the other one so much too. Ugh. Maybe I'll call it a tie.



It says: "The Breastaurant. Eat at Mom's! Always fresh. Always Delicious. Fresh milk on tap. Open 24 hrs. Dine-in or pump-out service. Mom's simply is the breast!"


How awesome, right? Jenn, I've said it before and I'll say it again, you rule!

~~~

Here are a few more pictures from the batch I posted yesterday.


There is that toy again. (They are called "Ugly Dolls" which I have so many of already. I find them awesome, especially for boys.) ...




He looks at his sister with the same look though. I hope he's not thinking "What the fuck is that?" ...




Here is daddy with a sleepy baby. ...




And lastly, here are Ella and Allison feeding Karl a bottle of breastmilk, being little mommies themselves. ...

One Month Picture

Now that he's just a week away from two months, here is Karl's one month picture.



Weird expression, eh?

This is better ...

What a jerk I am.

I love my son. I love love love I have a boy. I love it.

I love that he will be a momma's boy (but not in the extreme way my husband is with his mom. That sucks. I will not fuck up the life of his future girlfriends/wife). I love that when I think of my girls dating, I have no problems with in - in fact, I'm excited for them. I love that when I think of my boy dating, it pisses me off.

But do you know what? I'm insanely jealous when I see someone with 3 girls. I had thought I'd have another girl ever since we saw the money shot with Allison at 20 weeks. And now I have 2 girls and a boy. And I'm jealous.

That makes me feel like shit.