I Need Input!

1.  We are getting a bit bored with the music we have for Josiah and are in the market for some good kid’s praise music that we can enjoy, or at least tolerate, too.  Any suggestions?

2.  Josiah is beginning to show signs of being ready to potty train: telling us when he has gone, wanting to get on his potty when we go, things like that.  It is a bit farther in our future and I’m not holding my breath (though I am hopeful), but I’m beginning to think of what method I want to use when the time comes.  Any advice based on experience out there?

Also, I have a cool never-been-used bath toy that was given to us but won’t work in our tub.  Any kid would love it and I wish we could use it, but it needs a tub with a side that is about 5-6 inches wide and relatively flat to work.  It has suction cups to help it stay in place.  I don’t really know how to explain it, but it is free to a good home!

A Little Work, A Little Play And Needing A Rest

(Feel free to skip all the narratives and head straight for the pictures below.)

Yesterday was a day to celebrate Elijah’s coming arrival.  Josiah was excited about it from the start, or at least that is how I chose to read it.  He woke up bright and early as usual and Jacob got him up and they both came into our bedroom.  Usually when this happens we just all hang out for awhile, but this time Josiah grabbed my robe, brought it to me and grabbed my hand and started pulling and saying “up, up” demanding that I get out of bed.  I had to laugh.  Once I was up and putting on my robe, he was grabbing the sides and tried to close it before I could even get it straight.  Then we had a few hours of playtime together during which he insisted I sit on the floor next to him and play with his trucks on the couch.

Later the girls in my Sunday School class threw me the most beautiful shower, though I have no pictures to prove it (yet).  We had a brunch with some really great food, I must say, and some fun conversation.  Elijah got some really great gifts to help us out when he comes and Josiah had fun initiating those things when I brought them home.  We are so blessed to have so many great friends to be kind enough to celebrate with us.

After attending a seminar that afternoon at UF for some free CE, Jacob and I dropped Josiah off at Grandma’s and headed to Conestogas in Alachua where my coworkers were throwing us a little shower…we thought.  Turns out somehow I missed the fact that they changed the date to next Saturday, which I can’t make!  So, we had a little unexpected date night.

Josiah has been a little on the grumpy side since his molars have been coming in and he had been begging to be with me and I hadn’t had much spare time with him and wouldn’t for a few more days, so Sunday I decided we’d play hookie from church (again) and hang out while Jacob went to teach sunday school.  We spent the large majority of the morning outside enjoying the absolutely gorgeous weather.

First, we spent some time playing in our front pasture just soaking up the sun.

 

Lilah is Josiah’s faithful sidekick when they are outside together.  She goes everywhere with him and he waits for her and calls her if she gets side tracked.  Today she followed us throughout our six acres, then to the neighbor’s place.  Funny cat!

 This is what the skies looked like this morning.  Josiah took this picture. 

After some running around, we played on the fort/swingset, “drove” Daddy’s truck, trimmed plants…

 …then we headed out across the road to look at the logging equipment (Josiah loves equipment) at the neighbor’s house where they are cutting down LOTS of trees, but we got sidetracked by the dirt (another love of his) and got filthy playing there.

  Then he practiced his country boy potty training by peeing on their fence (totally kidding, but that’s what it looks like, doesn’t it?).  He gazed at the equipment across the fence for awhile.

 

Jacob joined in the hookie fun by skipping out on church and bringing us subs and taking us to Cellon Oak Park to eat them.

My little man LOVES a sub!  And can usually eat one on his own!

 

I didn’t put the worst of them in here, but I didn’t realize I was this large until I saw all these pictures of myself.  YIKES!

Why do I have a basketball under my shirt and between my legs?  Not flattering!  But I did laugh when I saw it.

Airplane!

Sweet Boy.

After picnic time came nap time and chore time, which was only fun for one of us!

35 Weeks Pregnant And 2 Year Molars

…not within the same person!

Today was another uneventful, but good checkup with the obstetrician.  In fact, we spent more time talking about her dog’s allergies than the coming baby!  Anyway, I’ve gained yet another three pounds, am growing, and Elijah has a good heartbeat.  Next time, in 2 weeks, she will be doing an ultrasound, so we are excited.  After that we’ll probably start the weekly visits .  Yikes!  That means it’s close and I still have too much to do and no time to do it.  I’m scheduled to work right up until delivery, even on my due date and my days off are filled with more than I can do.  Oh well, I’m sure we’ll manage.  Even with a messy house.

Josiah really loves our OB appointments since he gets to go and play with all the toys there, NOT get an exam, and still get a lollipop at the end.  He and I have thoroughly enjoyed our day off together today though it has involved a bit of tylenol and only a short nap for him.  He’s getting another molar and has mild cold symptoms as a result.  He woke up screaming at 2 a.m. this morning which is always my clue that we have a problem because he never wakes up for no reason.  When I went to him he was just laying on his belly crying and my pregnant, groggy self couldn’t get him up from the bottom of the crib.  It kind of scared me and I wondered if he was crying in his sleep.  When I finally pulled him out he had a coughing fit and gagged.  He threw up all over his sleeper, my robe, my leg, and the floor.  Great.  It made me regret that he’d eaten such a great meal for dinner!  After dealing with all that and one other short episode that Jacob soothed, he slept pretty well the rest of the night.  Poor guy – he’s having a rough couple months!  On a good note, the food additive stuff he’s on (I found out today it is called “Mila”) seems to be really helping him, but time will tell.

Celebrating Baby Karis

Last week our Sunday School class had a baby shower for Stefanie.  She and Kevin are going to have  a sweet baby girl (the only one among 4 births in about 2 months!) named Karis.  We  had a great time laughing and talking.

These are supposed to look like baby rattles.

      

Little Henry is the first of 4 babies to come in our class.  Here he is 6 days old.  He has made Annie and Chad very happy parents!

This picture is one of a series that we have been taking from early on, though I don’t have any of those.  One by one we will be replacing bellies with babies!  It is so exciting to have friends to go through this with.  You’re next, Amy!

Nathan’s First Birthday

We spent this afternoon in Lake City celebrating our nephew, Nathan’s , first birthday.  He’s such a cutie with a great personality!

He was a bit tentative with the cake, but he’ll learn to like it!    This picture leaves me hoping that Josiah is a great big brother in the making.  He pushed Nathan all over the yard!

Doctor Update

Josiah went to the pediatrician for his follow up appointment for his weight loss and GI issues that was supposed to happen a month ago, but was postponed repeatedly for all the other issues he had.  At this point he is doing well and we could tell without weighing him that he is fatter.  As it turns out he has gained about a pound in these five weeks.  That was enough to maintain him on the growth curve he had fallen to, but not enough to return him to his previous growth curve.  Regardless, this is good because he did not continue to lose ground and he held his own despite being perpetually sick with other issues.

Dr. Worthington thinks that he has a type of IBD resulting in abnormal GI motility contributing to or causing the problem.  So, in lieu of medications we are trying a more natural food additive (for lack of a better term) and crossing our fingers for good results. 

He was so good for his appointment that he was rewarded with an “ookie” (cookie) at Publix while I shopped.  Yep, I’m working hard at fattening him up!

Assuming we have no more health surprises, the next time Josiah goes for a checkup he’ll be going as a big brother with baby brother getting his first newborn checkup!

Working Mom Vs. SAHM

You always hear the debate about which is tougher: being a working mom or a stay-at-home-mom.  Now that I’ve done both for at least a short time, I’ve been debating that myself.  I’ve stayed at home 100% of the time and I’ve worked anywhere from 30-45 hours/week.  Granted this is only with one child and the working part has been entirely during pregnancy which may have (who am I kidding – it definitely did) affected my energy level, but these are my thoughts just the same – if anyone cares!

For me, being a SAHM took a little extra creativity and ability to find mundane things stimulating.  I had to put time into entertaining both myself and Josiah while being productive just to keep our quality of life interesting.  This required some structure to our day, playdates, visits to the library and park, and making games out of chores, among other things.  I also struggled with feeling like I was falling behind and wasting what I had spent years in school studying.  I didn’t have many opportunities to practice my passion of vet med.  While caring for my family is also a passion, they are in two totally different categories on two separate levels and one does not make up for or compare to the other.  My “duties” of having a relatively clean house, decent meals, groceries on hand, a happy husband, and a thriving child were easy to achieve in the time I had, but I always felt pressure to do better and was constantly falling behind in the other non-existent area of my life.

As a working mom who knew what it was like to miss her passion, I promised myself I wouldn’t complain about going to work and while I haven’t totally made good on that promise, there’s not a day that goes by that I’m not thankful to have my job.  I’m working a bit more than I’d like and during those times that I work 40+ hours, I find I’m not able to be my mom/wife self as well as I’d like.  In general, though, when I’m working a little less, with a little organization and preparation put into it, I’m quite happy with the setup.  I’m able to spend time with my sweeties, prepare meals in advance (that thankfully Jacob has gotten quite good at warming up/finishing up when I don’t get home until nearly 7pm), and have “the best of both worlds”, so it seems.  Of course nothing is perfect and if I don’t stay on top of things, I quickly fall behind and become frustrated, but it works out.  I have also found that Josiah greatly benefits from the outlet he gets at his sitter with other kids.

So, in summary, I can’t say either one is harder or easier since both have their pros and cons.  To do either or both well is difficult and takes work.  I’ve decided that being your best is what is challenging and has little to do with what it is you are actually doing.  This encourages me because I seem to spend so much time searching for the next best situation when really it is all about phases in life and doing what needs to be done the best you know how for the time being.  So the biggest struggle lies in fulfilling that role to a level or standard that makes you happy with yourself the majority of the time and your family (and employer, if that's the case) happy with what they get from you until your role morphs into the next phase.

As a side note…I wrote the above awhile back but the other day I ran into someone I met at the hospital when I had Josiah.  She just had her second baby and is a SAHM.  I asked her how it was to have two kids and she said it is hard and that she is really glad when her husband gets home everyday.  While I always look(ed) forward to Jacob coming home, there is a difference between anticipation and desperation.  There were times that I had that desperation when I was a SAHM, but now I honestly always look forward to my alone time with Josiah (though “me” time is pretty darn good too!).  Though I loved my time at home and sometimes wish for those “easier” and more organized times, I’m glad to have some sort of outlet, even if it is work.