The Not-So-Divine Secrets of -Motherhood-

Fun!

Borrowed the idea from my good friend Dianne- except her blog is compatible with the cute little survey and mine only copies HTML. One of these days I need to read the manual on this thing.

So funny thing Dianne- you are an Orange Martini and compatible with Blueberry, well I'm Blueberry! I just know that we would have great fun if we ever did get together!

Well everyone, off to pack to hit Lake Havasu for the weekend. Oh yeah, and major update- Hayley is saying her first word. Any guesses? Not mama. Not Dada. Not Baba. She is saying uh-oh! Does that really count as a first word? But seriously, she is saying it clear as day- the O and everything! I think we're really in for some trouble...

I am a Blueberry Martini

***You Are A Blueberry Martini***

You are a eclectic drink - liking to change drinks and venues often.
You are usually the first of your friends to find a cool new dive bar or cocktail.

You should never: Drink mystery drinks strangers hand you. Unless you want to wind up in foreign country.

Your ideal party: Is mobile, hopping from party to party.

Your drinking soulmates: Those with an Orange Martini personality.

Your drinking rivals:  Those with a Chocolate Martini personality.

What Flavor Martini Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatflavormartiniareyouquiz/

Changes

You never know how your life is really going to change until you actually have a baby in your house. I mean, you think you have some idea, right? People tell you all kinds of things, you think you are prepared.

But really, it goes beyond the sleepless nights and dirty diapers. I find that I am much more aware of the world, if you will. I listen to the news and hear stories about children being abused, mothers gone missing, violence, crime, and all the scary things in between. I find that sadly, a little piece of my heart is torn each time I hear another story, and I continue to pray that nothing like that will ever touch my baby's life.

I have discovered that while I was already overbearing I am much more so when it comes to the safety of my baby. She gets sunscreen applied in layers and I'm a fanatic about making sure there is shade whenever we take her outside. I run through every crazy scenario in my mind whenever I take her out to the mall or grocery store, keeping one hand on the cart or stroller at all times, making sure she is buckled in and doesn't slide around in the seat, you know, the little things.

But on the flip side, it goes beyond my fear of what could happen to her. I also find that I am desperate to teach her, everything! I want to take her places and do things, even though she is still too young yet to remember. At least if we do them we can take pictures and I can journal in her scrapbook. Maybe she is too young yet to remember but someday she will and I just want to make sure that her childhood is filled with those memories. Those "remember when" times that we all have.

I find that I am much more adventurous. I mean, we have always travelled quite a bit, but it was usually to the same places- Canada, California, Lake Havasu, Texas. Occasionally we would step outside the box and go  somewhere totally off the list but usually our vacation times were spent visiting family, and those were the locations of family. All of a sudden I realized that it is great that we go those places, and we aren't going to stop, but now I want to take her everywhere else.

I'm borrowing the term from a friend that I work with, but she and her mother take their annual "Gypsy Trip" and I absolutely love the phrase. So I talked about it with my husband and for the fun of it we are going to block off our time on the vacation calendar each year. The time that we aren't in Canada we are just going to wait and watch the last minute travel deals to figure out where we are going for that trip. So for instance, one year we may get to the Bahamas, we just won't know we are going there until two weeks beforehand. How exciting is that!!

I have been fortunate enough to have been a great many places- Atlanta, Chicago, Washington (state and DC), New York. I want to take Hayley to all those places and more. Florida, Maine, Oregon, South Carolina. I want to take her to museums, aquariums, national parks, oceans, baseball parks, you name it and I want to take her there. (Guess I better keep working then huh?)

It sure is funny how having a kid will change your life. Sleepless nights? Just a drop in the bucket to everything else that changes.

Tips for Teething

**Disclaimer** I am not an expert. I just like to think I am.

So, it appears that with each successive tooth the symptoms are more and more defined. Remember that first easy tooth that we didn't even really know was coming? And the second one where we had an idea it was coming? Ok, for sure there is another tooth on the way. It has progressively gotten worse with each tooth and I'm afraid for what it will be like when the real big ones start to come in!

So where was I? Oh yeah, tips for teething. From my own personal clipboard.

1. The "routine" will go out the window. Just let it. It is more stressful and frustrating for you to try and keep them to their schedule, don't worry, once they get through the tough part they will go back to the norm.

2. Frozen watermelon is the best! But you need to put it in one of those handy dandy mesh food strainer bag thingamajigs. You can buy them at Babies R Us or Target. And you probably want to give them the watermelon outside. Naked.

3. Give them a plastic baby spoon to chew on. I believe the brand is Gerber- they make these awesome rubbery toddler spoons where the handle is thick enough that they can't stick it down their throat and choke.

4. Chart the symptoms with each tooth- you will begin to recognize the pattern. With Hayley it is general fussiness first, then not eating, throwing up, and not sleeping. Usually over a course of three to four weeks. We are now on tooth number three, and no break in between them.

5. Medicate. Yourself. I am not an advocate of sticking the medicine in a baby's mouth every time they fuss. But for you, have a glass of wine. Relax. Your perfect child, like mine, is only going through a stage. It isn't their fault, and if we could only remember what teething felt like I'm certain we would be much more sympathetic.

6. Try to remember that your baby that normally falls asleep on her own at each nap time and is now needing a little extra snuggle time is just that- a baby. My husband reminds me of that every now and then. I will never forget his comment to me one night when Hayley was about two months old -I was so worried that I had gotten up ten times to rock her back to sleep. I said "I'm probably creating my own nightmare by doing this". His response "By doing what, treating her like the baby that she is?" Point taken. If you haven't already read my other posts, check in on the ones with regard to Babywise.

7. Distract them. I find that Hayley forgets about chewing her fist off and fussing whenever we go out rollerblading or swimming. And it never hurts for me to get a little exercise either.

8. Frozen washcloths are great- but make sure you freeze them flat or folded nearly flat. The first batch I froze were wadded up in a ball. Great thinking. There was nothing for her to get her little mouth on!

9. Cold baby fruit feels good to Hayley. Some babies need all their food warm or at room temp but I started very early with Hayley giving her the meats and veggies warm and the fruit straight from the fridge. I can always tell when she is teething because she spends extra time "chewing" the cold pureed baby fruit.

10. Take all the advice you have been given and then just figure out what works best for you. Everyone is different. Don't feel obligated to try every single idea that someone has, or feel like you have to do everything the way your sister did it because her children are perfect. Pick and choose the ones that sound good to you so that if they don't work out you don't get too frustrated.

And this concludes my expert advice and tips on teething. Feel free to post your tips too- I'm always looking for good ones myself!

Dear Hayley,

June 19, 2007

Dear Hayley,

In just a few short days you will be thirty four weeks old. Wow! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. You have two teeth- and the cutest little smile I've ever seen with those two teeth.

We took you to Canada to visit with Dada's family and you had such a good time I wondered if your face muscles hurt from smiling so much. We did lots while we were there- we went to Grandpa and Grandma's cabin at the lake, Dada took you to the golf course where he talked about someday taking you to play golf, and you played with your cousins.

Best of all, you are now "scootching"! The second day we were there you were on the floor on your tummy. You stuck your little hands out, grabbed hold of the floor in front of you, and pulled with all your might. It brought tears to my eyes to see you becoming mobile as I know that soon you will be quite independent. Within just a few days you were using your feet and legs to push off and now just ten days later you are pulling your knees underneath you. I think you will be crawling within a week or two. Watch out kitties!

We had you baptized while we were there and I couldn't stop the tears from springing into my eyes when I thought of the trials we had gone through just to bring you into our lives. The Lord does work in mysterious ways as Nana always says, and I know that I will never stop thanking Him for blessing us with you.

When we were in Hawaii you learned tantrums. When we were in Canada you learned that the quiet, well behaved children don't get enough attention in a room full of people. You are now squealing and screaming at the top of your lungs, many times for no reason at all. Of course, it does have the desired effect, everyone stops what they are doing to see what you need. I'm not so fond of the ear splitting screams but I'm certain you will outgrow the habit as quickly as you learned it. At least that is what I keep telling myself!

You sure missed the kitties while we were gone, and they missed you too. Allie has spent every night since we have been home in your bedroom, crying so loud I am afraid she will wake you. She even let you "pet" her (pull the fur on the top of her head) without even flinching.

Hayley you are growing so quickly and every single day I wake and wonder what fun we will experience together that day. You make me laugh all the time and I just cannot believe how happy you are. I can't even tell you how much I love you, just know that my love is bigger than anything in this world. One day when you have a darling baby you will understand.

I love you Pumpkin Pie!

Mommy

Baby Teeth!

I must say, tooth number two was nowhere near as perfectly executed as tooth number one. Dare I make the comparison between child number one and child number two also? Isn't that how it works, the first one is the perfect angel and you think you will get lucky again only to have a tornado blow through with number two?

Anyway, so Hayley's first tooth just popped through with no real fanfare. Oh let me tell you, not so with number two. It started on Mothers Day, MOTHERS DAY of all days! She was a total bear. Cried half the day, wouldn't take a nap to save her life, didn't want to eat, didn't want to be held, didn't want to be put down, you know where I'm going with this.

Let's see, then there were the puking episodes over the next two weeks. I hate it when she pukes, it is always at the most inopportune times. Usually when she pukes we both need an outfit change.

What came next...? I'm thinking here, sorry, I usually have my thoughts organized. Oh yeah, she wouldn't eat. We would make bottles that went right to waste. We tried feeding her more food from a spoon just to make up for the lack of bottles and that didn't happen either. Along with the decreased appetite came the sleepless nights. About a weeks worth.

We saw rosy cheeks and a mild fever about two weeks ago. Her eczema flared up big time, and although I have no proof that it was teething related I am going to say it is because as far as I investigated there were no external factors that could have caused the flare up.

Last week we could barely get her fist out of her mouth. And I want to say somewhere around Wednesday May 30th we knew that tooth was finally here. It was harder to feel poke through than the first one, mainly because it is right next to the first one and the area is so small you tend to feel the first and can't differentiate the first and second. Plus the gums were swollen, but for sure I can see the white tip of it and I can feel it now.

And Hayley feels it too, she sticks her tongue out and feels around her bottom lip- it is so cute! So we said welcome to tooth number two and are now enjoying the calm before the next storm.

Traveling with an infant- again!

So one week from tonight we will be headed to Canada to visit with the fam-damily. I absolutely love our vacations "home" as I call it even though it isn't my home. My husband was born and raised in Canada and during our nine year relationship I have found that it must have been my absolute destiny to marry someone from there. I love Canada.

Don't get me wrong, I love the US too. We have all kinds of fun things that they don't have in Canada, like income tax breaks for mortgage interest, cheaper electronics and books, and *especially in Vegas* alcohol that can be served and consumed virtually any time, any place- and is real cheap!

But Canada is still in a league of their own. At least where my husband is from. People there still call their friends parents "Mr and Mrs". They grow gardens, and then share their bounty. They repair things instead of throwing them away and buying new. (novel concept!) They live in their homes long enough to see the mortgages paid off. Strangers will look you in the eye, and smile.

I could go on and on. I love making this trip. I swore when we got married that we would never miss one, and although some of them have been but short we haven't missed a year yet. We go every single summer and every other Christmas. Usually we drive, but with it being a twenty four hour drive one way we figured we would make the most of still being able to fly with a free lap infant and booked plane tickets.

I can't wait to take Hayley "home". To have her hang out with her myriad of cousins, she will be in absolute heaven at the action (chaos?) around her. She loves being part of the group, and she is grandchild number twelve, so good thing! I can't wait for her to sit in the highchair that I believe her Uncle D used when he was a baby. Uncle D is thirty one years old. See what I mean about keeping things? I can't wait to take her to Grandpa's shop, where she can delight the occasional customer with a big semi-toothless grin and an infectious giggle.

I am so excited that I have been making my packing list for about three weeks now and yet I know I will still be throwing stuff in the suitcase the night before we leave. Heck, as we are walking out the door!

Hayley has her little passport and is all ready to go. I'm sure we will have some great stories to share once we return!