Words that make me smile

"You a good maker."
In reference to my cooking skillz

"I wuv you too."
He just started saying this back to me. Before, when I told him I loved him, he'd say, "yeah." Typical male.

"I want you."
Even if it's mid-tantrum and I'm ready to pull my hair out. Too bad most of the time he says it I know he's trying to butter me up and I have to ignore it. Ahhh the joys of toddlerhood.

"You want dum danny (some candy)? I den dare wiff (can share with) you 'fyou (if you) want."
Does he need to ask?

"I want bedgies (veggies)!"
This was after throwing a temper tantrum last night about not having anything besides the main dish on his dinner plate. I didn't know what he wanted, but finally he calmed down enough to tell us he wanted mixed veggies. I gladly obliged, obviously.

Even though he can be moody, he knows the way to his Mama's heart, whether through reciprocating love or offering up some chocolate. Love and chocolate. That's all I really need in life.

Life Lately

I'm utterly exhausted.

We had Ben's baptism last weekend. It was good. I need to post pictures of it, but by the time I'm sitting on the couch, I have a baby on my lap along with my laptop. Like right now Ben's sleeping and my arms are reaching over him to type.

Work has been crazy. The kids are absolutely off the wall. Spring sprung early this year, so the unruly behaviors we usually see in May have already started in March and we still have more than 2 months to go. Ugh. Add to that high school drama with co-workers who whine and don't put on their big girl panties and do their job (that's all I'll say about that!), and it makes for some stress.

Colin has been sick the last few days and might have Whooping Cough. He's up to date on his vaccines, but one of the girls at daycare was just diagnosed with it. She went to the doctor on Tuesday and JUST got diagnosed with it today, four days later. She's been at daycare all along. And then Colin decides to put his mouth on the toys that the little baby also puts in her mouth, and germs are spread. I took Colin in for a Whooping Cough test to see if he has it, and got antibiotics as a precautionary. We won't know if it's positive until Tuesday. Last night, I "medicated" him all I could. I gave him honey cough syrup, wrestled him down and shot saline up his nose, rubbed Vicks BabyRub on his feet and chest, and plugged a Vicks vapor plug-in thing into the outlet in his room. He slept a lot better last night than he did the night before, so we'll do the same thing again tonight and hope it works. Now I can only hope that Ben doesn't get it. He has gotten one DTaP vaccination and is 100% breastfed, so I'm hoping that helps. It's hard to keep Colin away from him though.

Ben has slept through the night 3 nights in a row. I probably just jinxed it by writing it, but that's okay. I nurse him around 8:30 or so, and after he has a full belly, Kevin walks around with him and he dozes off and sleeps until we have to wake him up at 6:30. It's heavenly!

I'm going to win a half billion dollars later tonight, so if you don't hear from me for awhile, just assume I'm getting all my financial ducks in a row. I'll be back. Don't worry :)

Got oil?

I'm blogging from work, which I never do. Shhhh don't tell!

While on maternity leave, I browsed the internet a little bit. Ok, a lot. I learned some interesting things about your body's oils. I learned:

• If you allow your hair and skin to have its own oil, it balances itself out.


• You can introduce natural oils to your body with spectacular results.


• You will not look or feel like you've been working next to a deep fryer.

During pregnancy, I religiously used almond oil on my belly and avoided stretch marks both times (even against genetics). I decided to take the dive into using more oils because, as you know, I'm cheap (frugal) and oil is cheap (inexpensive). As a mom of two, I like to sleep in when I'm allowed and keep things as simple as possible. Let me explain my new beauty regime.

Face:
From a very young age, I battled acne. I used all the creams, took antibiotics, used ProActiv, even went as far as using Accutane. Then I discovered Zum Body's Tea Tree Citrus soap that I find at my local co-op. I love it and it works great! But I wanted a little more variety, so now I'm using the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM). You can read about it here. I mix 1 part castor oil to 5 parts almond oil and add a drop of tea tree oil. I was already using and loving the almond oil as a night moisturizer, but just by adding a little castor and tea tree to it, it became an antibacterial cleanser. It also removes makeup very well. I use the oil mix about every other night or so and use the Tea Tree Citrus every morning and as well as the nights I don't use OCM.

Hair:
I've become an every-third-day hair washer. GROSS, right? My past self thought so, but really it's quite awesome. Rest assured, I do take a shower every day. On day one, I wash my hair and obviously, take a long shower. On days two and three, I just avoid getting under the showerhead and don't get my hair wet at all. My shower on those days lasts about 5 minutes. What results is bedhead-turned-volumuous hair! It really doesn't feel oily at all. It's soft and it doesn't look like desheveled (it must be the steam in the shower that kind of tames it). Plus, I justified being able to splurge on some Aveda shampoo since I use 1/3 of what I used to!

Body:
No more lotions that don't moisturize! I've become a coconut oil convert. I bought a big jar from the co-op. You can find it in the baking aisle. I scooped a few tablespoons out of the jar and store it in a little plastic container. I rub it on and it makes my skin so soft. In fact, my hands are soft all day just from one application in the morning. It's fabulous. I promise I don't smell like a tropical vacation (although that would be nice) because coconut oil has no scent at all.

I'm loving the oily side of life!

3 months old

Ben has show-stopping cheeks. Young and old alike are constantly saying, "Look at those cheeks!" He's slowly losing his whispy baby hairs.
He's still growing like a weed. He weighs 22 lbs and is about 25.5 inches (these measurements taken at home, so they are only approximations). No wonder he's already wearing clothes ranging in size from 9 months-18 months (depending on brand, type of clothing, etc.). He outgrew his car seat, but my mom's friend was kind enough to lend us one to use for a little while longer.
Ben has been eyeing his hands every so often. He has found his thumb and sucks it sometimes when he's tired or hungry, but hasn't made it a habit. He's also starting to watch us closely when we eat. We're still (at least) a month out from eating solids, but I can tell he's going to love it.

He loves taking a bath. He's so at peace in the water. He doesn't mind if water laps in his ears, or when his hair is washed. He kicks his legs and gives us lots of smiles.

Sleep is still something he's really good at. He wakes up once a night for a quick meal but goes back to sleep right away. He usually naps like a champ and he's fairly easy to put to sleep.

Colin is so good to him. When Ben starts to fuss, Colin sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to him. He loves to hold Ben and play with him. When Colin is near Ben, Ben watches him and smiles.

Ben started going to daycare this month. He has only been there for a week, so he's still getting used to it. He doesn't drink a lot of milk there (just 8 oz a day!), but hopefully he'll become more comfortable with the bottle soon. The first few days he didn't nap like he typically does, but he quickly became accustomed to all the new noises and he does take longer naps there now. Sandy told me today that he doesn't like when the kids get really noisy. He starts to cry so she has to tell them to quiet down a little bit. Surprising, since Colin can be so loud. I suppose multiply that by 3 or 4 and it's VERY loud!

We love every square inch of our big guy and can't wait to see what new things he discovers this next month!

Back to the ol' grindstone

I went back to work yesterday. I was ready to get back into a routine, after falling into a pit of laziness. Towards the end of maternity leave, my days looked a lot like this:

• Wake up, shower, get dressed.
• Take Colin to daycare (unless we have a playdate, then he stays home)
• Come back home, sit on couch
• Get on computer, refresh facebook every 5 minutes.
• Get disappointed when people aren't posting anything on their facebook walls
• Realize that's because everyone else is working
• Eat lunch
• Refresh facebook some more
• "Window shop" online
• Refresh facebook some more
• Make documents in Word, like my shopping list document that is laid out using the Aldi floor plan
• 3:00. Go pick up Colin.

*Nursing/caring for Ben interspersed throughout the day, of course.
**An occasional trip to Aldi/Target/Walmart once or twice a week.

I needed some routine in my life.

Monday morning, we left the house on time. Drop off went incredibly well. I didn't cry. It's different when:

• It's your second kid, and your oldest is there to watch over your littlest
• You know your daycare provider
• Your kid has hung out with your daycare provider
• You're only 5 minutes away
• You have 3 months of work until summer and you're off

I unlocked my door and walked into my quiet classroom and immediately felt overwhelmed because

• I wasn't sure what routines were still in place, and which ones had been changed
• I didn't know what to teach
• Although I know it's my classroom, it didn't feel like "my" classroom.

The day went well. I felt the love from my kids. My long term sub stuck around for 2 "reverse shadow" days so I could slowly get back into it. That was awesome. I became reacquainted with my "stuff" and my space. I got a chance to establish my pumping schedule.

I left school as soon as I was contractually able. I picked up the boys and Sandy told me Ben had a great day. He drank his milk without issue. He slept for an hour and a half, with some catnaps thrown in (he usually sleeps a lot more than that, but it's ok).

We went home. Ben was asleep for the night by 8:30 (usually it's more like 9:30). He did wake up last night, but still just once, and woke up for the day at 6:30, which is when he has to wake up anyway.

Today was good too. I felt more comfortable with my students. I have a list of things I need to do to get my kids back to where I expect them to be. I have 3 days before spring break to get some footing.

Ben did well at daycare today. The kids went outside twice today since it was so nice out. He took a 3 hr nap and some catnaps, which is more typical of him. He didn't drink a lot of milk, but when we got home he drank a 6 oz bottle and nursed, so I'm sure he's fine. We went for a walk tonight and he seemed happy but tired. He fell asleep at 7 pm, and almost 2 hrs later he's still sleeping. I'm sure he's just overdosed on fresh air and vitamin D :)

So yeah...back in the game. Feeling good. Feeling motivated. Although I am counting down to summer. 58 days to go, and it's going to go quickly!

ABCDEFG???

Yesterday at daycare Colin learned this rendition of the Alphabet Song from one of the little girls there, except she sang it with the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star words. He does his best singing in the bathtub, so here you go.



Endearing? Incredibly.

(For some reason, the last words got cut off. I'm sure you don't need my translation to figure it out).

I still don't know if he knows his ABCs though. He's not serious long enough for me to find out.

Wouldn't it be fun if I recorded an "Ask Colin Anything" video? Where I ask him YOUR questions and record his answers? I think it would be. Ask him a question by writing a comment!