Thank You Dear Crissy & Bare Neccessities!

Earlier this week I started entering a few high value giveaways on a whim. I am not usually one that wins the giveaways, but luck – a whole heck of a lot of it – was on my side this time and I won the biggest giveaway I’ve ever won – $300 to Bare Neccessities thanks to the awesome giveaway at Dear Crissy. Let’s just say I am beyond stoked!  So, I just wanted to give a quick little shout out and big THANK YOU to both Bare Neccessities and Dear Crissy! 

Gilt (Invitation Only Shopping Site) Giveaways

Two blogs I love are each featuring a Gilt (Invitation Only Shopping Site) Giveaway – MomDot and Dear Crissy.  We aren’t gonna discuss how much time I spend parked on the MomDot site (so don’t ask, heehee) and Dear Crissy has been open on my browser for a couple days steady now, thanks to some pretty awesome high dollar giveaways.  I’m tweeting daily. I wanna win, because I just don’t consider Christmas shopping really done until we are opening gifts on Christmas morning.  Just sayin’. 

Trisha and Crissy are both great bloggers, so if you aren’t familiar with them, now as good time as any to check their blogs out.  Trisha has actually started doing a lot of super cute DIY stuff, mainly for girls (lots of princessy stuff).  If you have girls, unlike me, you’ll like what you find there. (Ahem, I like what I see there, I just have no use for it. Wanted to clear that up.) 

Anyhoo, both have a $100 Gilt gift card up for grabs. Go enter here and here.

I entered to win a $100 credit for Gilt Children at Dear Crissy & MomDot.

Bare Necessities Giveaway At Dear Crissy

Dear Crissy is celebrating the 13 Days of Christmas {wait.. I thought there was just 12 Days of Christmas? heehee} with a lot of giveaways, including this one from Bare Necessities.  I’m hoping to win so I can stock up on some new PJs and nursing items.  I may even have a little leftover to do some Christmas shopping. The more I browse the site, the more ideas I get. 

I entered to win a $300 gift card from Dear Crissy & Bare Necessities!

The Circumcision

Baby C had his circumcision procedure today.  It broke Mommy’s heart that he had to endure it.  They were absolutely great with him, but it is what it is.  Not the most fun a one month old can have, that’s for sure.  And waiting til he was a month old… made it a little worse I think.

I’m not sure how it works for others, but for us to have the circ done while still in the hospital, we would have had to sign the consent forms and pay prior to the delivery. Somehow, that was missed. We weren’t given the forms to sign nor asked to pay – but whether that responsibility lied with the OB or me for not specifically requesting it, the end result was the same.  We didn’t even realize it until after delivery when we found out it wouldn’t be done.  Once we were home, I checked with our Ped, who did not do circs, but referred us to someone that did.  It would be a couple of weeks before they could get us in, which pushed us up against the “less than a month old” deadline, which was today.

I was convinced following the procedure that it “looked good” but to me it just looks painful.  It might look the way it should following the procedure and on its way in the healing process, but to a Mommy, it was just a reminder of the pain.  The next 2-3 weeks are not going to be easy for us.  I canot wait til it is all healed and this experience behind us. Sometimes he whimpers – a sound he never previously made – when he’s sleeping.

For now, we are keeping medication on it, medication in him, and for the first 24 hours we are double diapering.  So far today since we’ve been home, he’s only been awake long enough to nurse, get changed, and take meds before starting to doze off again.

Four Weeks Old Today

Already.

Where did those first few weeks go? Most of the first was in the hospital – has it already been several weeks since we were discharged? The time has passed in a sleep deprived fog for me, but the moments have been all too precious just the same.  Well, the moments when he wasn’t screaming anyway. As I write this, I’m watching him sleep, his little fist near his mouth, so content and peaceful.  And I realize these weeks of so little sleep are all worth it. 

Tomorrow morning he will be getting circumcised. I’m not looking forward to it.  The very thought of him being in real pain horrifies me.  But I know those moments will pass soon, he’ll heal, and he will not have any memory of it.  But the time between now and then will have me completely heartbroken.

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Deuteronomy 31:6

After posting Overwhelmed, I was sitting on the couch messing with my iPhone and I pulled up the Bible Verses app I added earlier today and this was the verse for today.  It doesn’t magically remove me from this place I am in right now, but it helps to be reminded that I am not walking through it alone.

Overwhelmed

Sometimes it feels like all the things I’m juggling are just going to come crashing down. 

Maybe it is that my hormones, 4 weeks postpartum, haven’t leveled back out yet. 

Or maybe it is that I am still experiencing pain / discomfort from the c-section.  (I stopped taking all the meds awhile back because I just could. not. take. anymore. I get nauseous at the mere thought of taking another pill. I probably shouldn’t have quit taking them, but it is what it is.) 

Maybe it is that my husband is going back to work in a couple of days and I haven’t settled into a new routine yet. 

Maybe it is because I am still operating on very minimum sleep.  Last night I got 2 hours of sleep, but I usually am able to get up to 4. 

Maybe it is that I try to ease back into a routine, doing things that need to be done, but doing so seems to aggravate the incision, externally and internally. 

Maybe it is because my four year old pushes the envelope a little too far, a little too often and I know most of the fault of that lies with me.  I was so sick and weak during the pregnancy, I wasn’t able to stay on top of correcting bad behavoir and mainly gave extensive warnings.  We are trying to reel him back in, but it is extremely difficult since I allowed him to go to this place and for so long.  It is frustrating and I don’t always handle it as well now as I should.

Maybe it is because as completely lovable and precious as the new baby is, he’s also a screamer.  And he has hard a hard time getting settled at night, very restless, nurses and fusses, nurses and fusses, nurses and spits up because he’s nursed too much and mostly refuses a pacifier, but still wants the comfort.

Maybe it is because there always seems to be so much to do.  Around the house. With work.  Yes, I’m lucky enough to be a work at home mom, but I have to work for there to be income from it and quite frankly, work is work no matter where you do it.

Most  likely it is the fact that ALL of these are in the play. At the same time. 24/7. 

I know, somewhere in the back of my mind, or maybe it is deep in my heart, that things will get better.  Eventually.  They will, right?  But for now, I have lots of little moments like this where I simply feel overwhelmed.

Tinkerbell Is… Ummm… Tinker Beau…

Oopsie… !!!  Still a cutie though with lots of character! 

29 Weeks And Well Into The Third Trimester!

Day by day  it goes slow, but then I look back and it feels like it is actually going by pretty quick.  Preparations are still coming along, lots getting done but still lots more to do.  I think my body knew the moment I entered the third trimester because there was a shift – I feel like I’ve been hit by a mack truck a bit more often and if it is possible, I am more tired all the time than I was before.  It is harder to breathe, harder to move to {attempt to} get comfortable, and quite frankly harder just existising, LOL!  The 29 week visit is tomorrow, and we may be scheduling baby’s arrival.

According to What To Expect:

Your Baby in Week 29 of Pregnancy
How big is your baby this week? She weighs nearly three pounds now and measures about 17 inches. Though she’s getting pretty close to her birth length, she still has to chub out a bit. In fact, over the next 11 weeks, she’ll more than double — or even come close to tripling — her weight. And as she grows and the room in your womb gets tighter, you’ll be less likely to feel those big kicks and more likely to get poked by an elbow or jabbed by a knee. {Image from WhatToExpect.com}

Your Body in Week 29 of Pregnancy
Unsightly yet harmless, varicose veins are simply swollen blood vessels that often surface on your body for the first time during pregnancy, especially if your mom or grandma had them. You may have a mild case (minor achiness and swelling) or you may be unlucky enough to experience real pain and bulging blue veins, usually from the ankle to the upper thigh. There are things you can do to alleviate this veiny situation, including watching your weight, keeping your blood flowing, and avoiding heavy lifting.

Healthy, Independent Snacking For My Preschooler

My four year old, probably like most four year olds, loves to be able to do things all by himself and feels such pride when he is able to. He is going to have a baby brother come November, so the more he is able to do by himself, within reason of course, the smoother things will flow once Mommy’s time is a little more divided.  

Lil Roo is a grazer, always has been. He doesn’t eat much at one time, but nibbles throughout the day.  This includes meal type foods, healthy stuff, and even misc snacks. I recently placed a plastic three drawer cart in one of our pantry areas. The top drawer holds a variety of snacks in individual servings and the next drawer down holds a few kid bowls and other small bowls.

I have also recently set up something of a snack center in the fridge.  A bowl of readily available fresh, chilled fruit; strawberry banana smoothies I made the night before, sometimes other prepared drinks, and juice boxes (usually the flavored water kind) & kids’ yogurt products in the produce drawer below. 

He is allowed to eat the fruit at his leisure, but has to have permission before getting a snack form the snack drawer, which I limit.  Sometimes he’ll get a bowl and put some fruit in it, other times he’ll just grab a couple of small pieces to eat and he’s back at play. 

Next I want to add carrots, celery, and ranch dip to the snack area in the fridge and peanut butter to the snack drawer.  Possibly broccoli as well.  I want to get a small basket to put on top of the plastic cart for bananas, etc.  I don’t like the cost, but I am thinking  of also buying the individual servings of apple slices.  I am brainstorming (which is quite the task in my pregnancy fog) of other good snack / fruit / veggie ideas, and I am very open to suggestions. 

Once the baby comes, if he is a little hungry or thirsty and my hands are full taking care of baby; he isn’t left out in the cold.  I may have to help him open a package or juice box here and there, he can at least get it and bring it to me then head to his table with it.