Following the trend!

Since we are closing on our house this Wednesday, we took advantage of the weekend to move everything that was left out of the house. That means that we are officially living with my in-laws until we finish our house! Somehow it is not very calming that a lot of people are taking advantage of the benefits of sharing a household to reduce expenses. Though we stayed almost every weekend for the past two years, it is a totally different story moving in. His parents are great and have been more than accomodating, but the move wasn't very organized, so things are missing or not in places that are easy to get to. We have a lot of stuff and it is spread out between my mom's and his parents garages and his grandparents basement. I feel like we are totally putting everyone out and can't wait until the next couple of months are over! The original plan was to have the house done 12 weeks from closing, which would put us in sometime end of October, beginning of November. I overheard Randy saying the other day that he wants to try to push back the new house so that we move in after the new year so that we can delay taxes a full year! I could have strangled him right there and then, thankfully, I think his mother could have too!

So much going on!

In the month since my last post a lot of things have changed. I interviewed for a secretarial position and hope to find out tomorrow whether or not I will be awarded the position. We finally sold our house and close the 29th. I have been busy packing and preparing for the move in with my in-laws. I took Aidan in for his 4 month check up a few weeks ago and found out that he is growing even faster than I had expected. He was 27 1/2 inches and 17 pounds. The nurse told me to check out his car seat and make sure that he hadn't surpassed the height and weight limitations. When I got home I did and found that he should be moved out of it by 29 inches. I can't believe that at five months old I am going to have to move him up to a bigger carseat! Another sign that he is growing, recently he has been very fussy at night and wanting to eat nonstop before bed. Today I finally decided to try a little rice cereal in the afternoon and it went really well. I tried it with a spoon at first and he did ok, but soon he was too hungry to take the time for that, so I put it in a bottle and he gulped it down right away. Though he did poop right away tonight (he has been going a few days between bowel movements up until now), it did not seem to help him get ready for bed any faster. He has been staying up until 11 or later, changing my whole routine. Usually I get the kids to bed by 9:30 at the latest, go to bed with my husband so we have a little time to reconnect, get back up and clean/have a few minutes to myself to unwind before finally going to bed. Now I can't put Aidan down until 11 or later, get no time with my husband because he is already asleep and no time to myself because I have to clean up quick and get to bed myself. Maybe I'll have to try the rice cereal a little later or play with how much I feed him to see if I can get him to go to bed any sooner!

Parenting is hard!

My mother has always told me stories of what a great kid I was growing up. I would sit in my playpen and look at books or watch tv for hours while she and my dad did the chores on the farm. For some reason I expected that when I had children they would be much like me, WRONG! Reese is the most stubborn child I know. I have actually reached a breaking point and don't know exactly what to do or who to talk to. Everything we do turns into a screaming, fit throwing temper tantrum and I don't know exactly how this got started and how to make it stop. For instance, Reese used to love to take baths, but somewhere around the age of 1 she started throwing a fit when I went to wash her hair and body. She screams and thrashes in the tub while I do all of the washing, through drying her off and getting her dressed and more when I comb out her hair. Tonight I actually got into the tub with her and washed her hair and body without a single instance until I went to brush out her hair. I have been trying to potty train her for almost 9 months and have stopped several times when she throws a hissy fit at sitting on the toilet. She will kick, scream and flail around on the floor while I try to make her sit down on the toilet. It seems to have gotten worse since I have been home with her full time. So rather than letting her set the schedule I am enforcing a schedule that I set. This has helped to make bedtime smoother, though toothbrushing is still an ordeal! At first I thought that it was just terrible twos, but I have never seen a child act like this before. I will just have to stick to my routines and try to keep my patience and hope that this too will one day pass!

Money, money, money

Finally got some calls back on my ad for daycare services. Both of the people that called were looking for someone to watch their children second shift and weekends. For some reason I was assuming that I would only be called by people looking for first shift care Monday through Friday. I guess since I don't really know anyone with young children, I'll have to start out at the bottom rung and work my way up to a schedule that is more like what I am used to. It will have it's perks though, we will probably only be able to go to visit my in-laws on Sunday and I'll still have my mornings to schedule appointments for the kids and I to go to the doctor.

Where did all the room go?

Before kids I had the cleanest car you have ever seen! I kept a pair of sunglasses and a couple of cd's in my car and that was it. You could have eaten off of the floor mats or any of the seats. Fast forward a few years and I traded in my sporty Alero for a mini van so that we would have plenty of room for kids and the stuff that comes along with them. I actually keep my back seats folded up in the floor to make plenty of room, and I use all of it. I keep a double stroller and a single stroller in the car because you never know which one might be more convenient to use. I would keep an umbrella stroller in there as well, but I don't own one because there is not any room for one! Randy throws his carseat in the back of my van whenever he will be having co-workers ride along with him. There are toys and extra blankets. I have a dvd player and dvd's to keep Reese entertained on the long trips back and forth to grandpa and grandma's house. I took cans back last night, but there were several garbage bags full of cans. I keep baggies on hand for garbage and dirty diapers or clothes. I threw a phone book in, which came in handy the other day when I had to find a dentisit while running errands in town! I always have things that I need to drop off to a family member, right now I have a box of duplicate kitchen appliances that I need to give to one of my younger brothers. My purse and diaper bag occupy any room left on the floor! The floor and seats are so dirty with food crumbs and dirt and leaves. I don't even remember the last time that I washed the van. It is totally unlike me to be so disorganized, but I think that it will be a long time until my car can be the relaxing, clutter free haven I remember!

It won't be like this for long....

There is a beautiful song by Darius Rucker called "It won't be like this for long" that has become my mantra. When things are going really well or just the opposite when things are difficult, I just remind myself that it won't be long and the kids will be all grown up and I will long for the simpler times. The moments where Reese gets in Aidan's face saying, "hi buddy!" and kissing him all over will fade into moments where they have a sibling rivalry. The moments where I have to fight Reese to take a bath will fade into moments where she will spend hours on end primping in her own bathroom for a dance or date. I really wish that I could have a videocamera in my head so that I could remember and playback all of these moments at any time.

First Haircut

Aidan's hair was getting a little curly around his ears and the back of his neck, so I finally decided that it was time for a trim. Set him up in the bumbo seat with a few toys and he was perfect! I was actually quite impressed with myself for doing such a good job because I am so horrible at doing anything with Reeses' hair (and mine, in fact I have only blow dried my hair and done anything with it probably 5 times since Aidan was born). She screams bloody murder whenever I wash it or comb it. I have to chase her around the house and pin her down to put it in a ponytail out of her face. I really want to cut it in a cute little bob that would be easier for me to take care of and cooler for the summer, but every time that I mention it Randy and his family practically hit the ceiling. They have excuses that it is so cute long and blah, blah, blah, but none of them has to deal with her kicking and screaming to do anything with it everyday! If I could get her to sit still to cut it I definitely would. Maybe her aunt Steffane would want to try it out, she seems to have the touch when it comes to that stuff!