When Eli Turned Into A Gremlin

We thought we were safe with the small one. He has this way of making you think he is innocent but don't be fooled. He is his brothers clone.

You see for the first year of a babies life they are lying to you. Babies know what they're doing. They're making you all goody and soft on the inside. Not that pregnancy and childbirth wasn't enough to make us emotional saps, they have to be cute too. All their coos and giggles. Don't forget all those "firsts" they go through in one year. Oh they know what they're doing alright. So why am I so paranoid about my child's secret missions? Let's get started.

About a week ago or more. It's probably more the holidays make me very confused about time and space. Anyway about more than a week ago we were sick (also why I'm confused on time) like not just kind of sick. We were really really sick. All of us were not able to hold anything down for at least 2 days. That kind of sick where you are sore when you're done throwing up that you just lay there on the couch like a slug. Yup that was me. If you don't know already but when you're a parent and you get sick...nobody cares. Seriously though I miss the days when my mommy would bring me soup to my make shift bed on the couch and I would study shows like Sally, Maury, and of course Jerry to learn how not to screw up my life. So back to story. We were sick and it was awful. On this day I am speaking of we were slightly feeling better.
The boys were starting to get better and Steven was able to go to work. I dressed the boys in cozy pjs and made them their very own make shift beds on the couches. Then I curled up on my end of the couch and proceeded to let them watch whatever they wanted. Fast forward after a marvelous nap time and a lunch consisting of crackers and water. It's about 3pm when I think to myself "hmmm Eli hasn't pooped today. His body must be pretty drai...." I was cut off by Zack saying "EWWW....MOM!!! Eli made a poopoo on his back!" I was officially scared to even look but I did and it was only partially up his back. To mom that's a huge deal. So I got saddled up and ready to change a poop; I had new comfy pjs, a diaper, and all I needed was wipes. Then i realized we had used up all the wipes the night before to clean Eli's explosive poo up his back. Now I was in panic mode. Wipes, wipes, wipes....where we're they? I tore apart the house in search for wipes when I remembered that I carry a pack in my car. Yippee!
This is where the story gets interesting. I put on my boots because no other shoe goes quite as well with my mid thigh t shirt nightgown fully decked with flamingos on the front ( thanks grandma it's still my favorite) and no pants. Hey! I was opting for comfort and nothing says comfort like no pants. Can you really blame me? So I put on a grey tattered sweat shirt and went outside. Of course Zack followed in his underwear. Where did his comfy pjs go? "Zack get inside right now!" I barely made it to my car when I heard a very familiar "click."

ZACK LOCKED ME OUT!!!! I ran to my door only to find Zack standing there shivering. I tried the door and it was for sure locked. The bottom lock to be exact. I grabbed Zack and found him a jacket in the car and sat him in there. He put a blanket over his legs and was quickly happy to be warm. I ran back to the door and there it was. I saw his outline standing by the door....Eli had locked us out. Now I was really in panic mode. I tried to get him to unlock the door he just sat down by the door and started crying. So then I tried to comfort him from outside the door. I said things like "Its ok baby. Mommy is right here please unlock the door baby" "Eli my love please open the door and mommy will give you booby" then my please escalated to "ELI mommy is cold open the door now! You were able to lock it now unlock it or you'll never see my boobs again because they'll be frozen." To my dismay neither of these approaches worked. I had no keys, no phone, and holy cow I was pantless.
Since he was busy crying I figured I would find a way in. I ran around the house checking every window. I even considered climbing my neighbors roof to check the upstairs windows. Then I remembered Zack is afraid that ninjas will break in at night, so we make sure everything is always closed and locked. Darn those ninjas. So I went back to the door the plead some more. When I crouched down I realized that he was not by the door anymore. I heard giggling and silently prayed to myself that he wasn't rubbing poop on the walls. Meanwhile Zack was in the car discovering the blinker and some toys he had been missing.
I decided to open our shutters in front of our house. If you don't know Japanese homes a lot come with large metal shutters in front of the windows to protect during typhoons. When I opened them I was relieved to see Eli sitting on the floor watching Mickey Mouse. I spent the next 45 minutes trying to convince him to unlock one of the doors, crying (me), laughing (him), and finding random objects to try and pick the locks. Turns out you can't pick certain locks. I would make a horrible criminal. In this time Eli had successfully made the house look like a tornado went through. All of their toys were thrown around the house. He found a bag of wipes (yup what I went outside for) and removed them from the packaging.
I was in the middle of putting my face and hands against the window just staring at him when I felt someone staring at me. It felt like slow motion but I turned my head to the right and there was my Japanese neighbor trying not to stare but I imagine it was hard. Remember what I was wearing? Comfort clothes....and no pants. Thankfully my flamingo nightgown is to my mid thigh. But still I'm sure he was thinking I was a very crazy American lady. We said awkward Hellos before he scurried back into his warm home. Eli now had my phone and was listening to lady gaga and dancing. For a moment I thought it was cute. Then I saw Steven was trying to call. How long had I been outside? When I checked on Zack he had buckled himself into his car seat and said he was going on a rocket ride.
At this moment in my life I felt so helpless. This little person had won the battle. He was thoroughly enjoying his poopy butt freedom to play with my phone and his big brothers toys. Just when I was getting ready to run to my neighbors house to call the police I turned around and a beautiful ray of sunshine drove up. It was a knight in shining armor coming to my rescue. It was Steven. He jumped off his noble steed and unlocked the door, swiftly changed Eli's diaper, ran me a bath, and made dinner. Or at least that's how it felt. I actually ran to his Honda made him give me his keys while he asked questions like "did zack lock you out?" "wheres Eli?" "why are you wearing your flamingo nightgown?" I unlocked the door and swooped up my baby and kissed him. I even cried because I imagined all the horrible things that could've happened to him. I changed his diaper and gave him new comfy pjs. When Steven came in with groceries which included wipes. He asked "where's Zack?" I ran outside saying "holy cow! He's in the car still!"

And that my friends is how Eli became a gremlin.

P.S. zack was only by himself in the car for 5 minutes
P.S.S. please don't ever leave your children unattended in the car ever

And

P.S.S.S. When leaving your house always bring your keys.

Laugh it off...

In Japan there's a lot of different customs to fit into their culture. When we first got here it felt as if we were tourists in their country which in retrospect is true. Now that we're much more settled in living off base we are starting to notice the wonderful things they do and don't do.

I don't know how many times I have seen Japanese women fall. I am not going to lie it's hilarious but I came from a Dad who taught me to just laugh it off and keep moving forward. This is NOT how the Japanese see things. They absolutely don't like to lose their dignity. Especially the women. No, they have not heard me laugh out loud since a majority of the time I am in my Ironvan. And no I am not scaring them purposely in Ironvan to see them fall (you all know me too well). When they fall it's like a single movement of walk walk walk, trip, fall, roll, get up, walk away. It's like they are the ninjas of making a fall look like it's on purpose. I really wish I had this skill. I also really wish I can pretend that what just happened to me was not hilarious but that it never even happened. Surrounding Japanese people ignore it too. I am pretty sure if the person was actually hurt they would help but nope they don't lose face ever. So the point of this little story of Japanese people falling. Is because today....I fell. Not just fell I completely crashed and burned.

While out on a walk with the boys to burn Bears energy before nap time, we decided to walk to the Sanwa (grocery store). We needed some eggs so it worked out. Burn Bears energy and get eggs, totally productive. We get to a busy area where a lot of people are walking towards the front of Sanwa. I got momentarily distracted by what looked like someone eating live squid on a skewer and BOOM! next thing I knew I was on the floor with  2 kids looking at me. Thankfully neither of them was being worn. Aside from my shoulder and arm hurting I was happy to be in one piece. So I started laughing, hard. Bear sat down next me and asked if I was ok. I kept laughing and said "mommy is fine but she sure looked funny falling" which in turn made him laugh. Hippy Baby caught and started laughing in his stroller with us. After awhile I looked around and all the Japanese people seemed to be horrified with us. I got up and dusted myself off. Then it started "daijoubo des ka?" from every corner around me. I even had someone bring me water. Which I am not complaining about but I am so used to falling I never thought once that water would help. Anyway we went in the store got out eggs and went home. 

While laying Bear down for nap he kept talking about how I looked like I was getting trampled by Hulk smash. I am happy I will be teaching my boys that it's ok to laugh at ourselves. Mistakes happen and it's best to just take them and move on. Life is a beautiful thing and we should take every little bit and be happy. Whether it be good or bad. So I will leave you all with this....

Homeschool

Yes it's true we've made the switch to homeschooling. There wasn't that much of a switch since Bear wasn't in school but it's been a change on all of us.
We are setting up the classroom still and we are almost done with it. So this whole week we've been doing work downstairs. At first Bear was a little against it but with some encouragement he's really jumped on.
Our day lately has been...
6am wake up, brush teeth, eat breakfast, morning chores, let mom drink some coffee :)
7am morning board (calendar, days in school, weather, money counting)
8am work boxes this was a great idea I found on a couple of homeschooling blogs. You have a certain number of boxes and in each one is a different activity. Since the room is not complete I've just been bringing each activity downstairs but when they're ready zack will get to take the box out and work
10-11 The last work box is usually a craft, sensory, fun activity, video, or a movie. Today it's Ponyo since he listened to me all morning and worked real hard.
11 lunch and then nap around noon.

When he wakes up we find something else to do. Park, library, music etc. we will find something for him to do. this schedule above is Monday-Thursday and on Fridays we got this awesome bible that's hands on. So we will read one story on Fridays and do the activities. Also on Fridays will be our co-ops.

This weeks theme was firefighter. He really loves it and we even talked a little about September 11th and Daddy's very important job for our country.

Please excuse the iPhone pics I will be adding more once I get the chance..
Also I am on my iPhone posting this so please excuse any typos.

I've got 99 problems and Sleep Aint One.

Oh to look back on the days when Mr.Bear was formula fed and slept for 12 hours every night. I feel back then I had him pretty trained in the sleep category. When it was time for bed we had him bathed, fed. read to, and BAM! he was out on his own, in his own bed, and in his OWN ROOM! Those days were pretty blissful. Then came the day that would change all days in history of our parenting days. The day he climbed out of his crib. We pretended not to notice the first few months and then Sailor Man had to eventually go in his room, lay on the floor, and wait till he fell asleep. Right then and there was when it all came crashing down. Then comes little Hippy Baby and his wonderful breastfeeding ways. With breastfeeding usually comes co-sleeping. Not always...but it sure makes things on Mom much more easier.

Now 1 year later Hippy Baby and I are still co-sleeping. Sailor Man is still in Mr. Bears room except now they share a bed. Is this normal? Maybe not for most but it is for us. Do I miss the nights of snuggling up to my husband waking up to his bad breath? You bet I do! But when we sat down and really thought about it and really put the boys first we made a decision that while they're young we will enjoy sleeping with them. After all they're only little for so long and when they're big teenage almost men we will miss the days when they wanted to snuggle up with Mom and Dad. I am pretty sure getting a "good morning" from them will feel like Christmas.

If you want to really understand co-sleeping we look at it like this...

1.)  Have you ever been in bed alone and really really wished your spouse, boyfriend, Mom, Edward was there? Do you fall asleep much easier when they're around. We as humans sleep much better when we're with someone. Sure having a nice big bed to ourselves is nice but nothing beats that warmth of someone you love and care about right next to you. Now imagine how a small baby or child feels alone in their crib/bed. We feel the boys sleep better with us therefore less waking up a bazillion times a night on our part.

2.) Studies show that co-sleeping helps prevent SIDs. Preventing the infant from entering into sleep states that are too deep. In addition, the parents' own breathing may help the infant to "remember" to breathe (McKenna, 1990; Mosko, 1996; Richard, 1998). I felt much safer having Hippy Baby by my side in his early days. Even though my husband and I are active sleepers we we're very aware that he was with us.

3.) Helps with breastfeeding. Like I said above Mr. Bear was formula fed. I feel in my heart that I was so concerned with him taking a bottle, sleeping on his own, and through the night that it ruined breastfeeding for us. We ended up listening to others bad advice and giving him formula. With Hippy Baby we have made it to the 1 year mark with breastfeeding and I couldn't have been more proud of both of us. 

As always when you co-sleep please practice it safely. Here is some links on how to co-sleep safely and some more information on it.

http://www.attachmentparenting.org/support/articles/artbenefitscosleep.php

http://www.attachmentparenting.org/infantsleepsafety/

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/sleep-problems/sleep-safety/safe-co-sleeping-habits

http://kellymom.com/parenting/nighttime/familybed/

In a year….

So much can change in 1 year. This past year since Hippie Babies birth it has been a whirlwind of changes. Both Mr. Sailor and I have changed our mindsets on a lot of things from parenting to religion and back again. We have truly matured and now fully understand each other much more than what we have before. I feel 100% that this is mainly because we we're moved across the world and have had to solely rely on each other. Yes, I am making friends but in the end we are on this amazing adventure together. We are experiencing things that others only dream about and there's in no other person I want by my side to experience it all.

But this post isn't about us it's about Hippy Baby. Who just turned 1 on the 2nd.

Hippy Baby graced us with his presence on September 2nd 2011 after 12 hours of labor and 5 minutes of pushing at 5:36am he was ready to conquer the world. Weighing in at 7Ibs 9oz. and a long 21 inches. You can read more about his birth story here. I guess my best way to describe Elis first is through pictures so here we go.

September 2nd 2011

We were surprised at how quickly he calmed down

Daddy got to hold him first

Meeting his Mommy.

Some brotherly love.

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

1 YEAR!!!!!

This picture just sums up our year with Hippy Baby. It's been absolutely amazing! Love you our sweet boy.

Mr. Husbands Chili

For dinner tonight I am making the Mr a big steaming pot of Texas style chili. Whenever my man is having a real iffy type a day this is the stuff to make him very happy. I decided to share my super secret recipe with you all. It's really not that secret but it's oh so good.

Ingredients:
-Ground Beef or Turkey or our favorite Bison
- 1 tomato (diced)
-1 can of tomato sauce
-1 can of pinto beans
-1 can of corn
-1 packet of chili seasoning
-cheddar cheese

The How to:

1. Brown ground beef in a large saucepan.
2. Add diced tomato,  tomato sauce, pinto beans, corn, and chili seasoning to the pot.
3. Fill a can with water and add as well.
4. Heat to a boil then reduce heat to simmer and cover for about 20 minutes.
5. Put grated cheddar on top when you serve.

This recipe tastes great when served with corn bread and sour cream. YUMMM! Enjoy!

What The? Moment

As women we all have a tendency to multitask. Some of us are really good at it and some of us just fail. I think I fall in the failing part half the time and there's days where I am like "move over I am the queen of the world." Then you have some days where you look like this lady…

Today for me looked a lot like that. Crying baby with poop up his back, 3 year old running around like a maniac occasionally licking my arm, bad hair, no make-up, and ready to lock myself in a closet and cry. Then out of nowhere a sweet little 10 year old girl said to me "when i'm a mom I hope I am as pretty as you." Then her mom chimed in and said "I agree, I never left the house and wore sweatpants all day."

I seriously thought they were smoking some strong peyote. First off the 10 year old is way too young to be wanting kids run away child and wait till your 30 and secondly I had walked out the door with only eyeliner on one eye. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and my hair was tossed up in a bun on top of my head. I am pretty sure I also smelled like spoiled breast milk. Why I decided to leave the house in the first place is beyond me. Oh yeah because I wanted to take my kid to the only place where he's forced to be quiet….the library. I smile at the lovely wonderfully blind mother daughter duo and went on my way. Still confused I guess I looked better than what I thought and maybe Lady Gaga is trying to start a new fad with eye make-up on one eye. I will never know. What was your "What The?" moment today?

Happy 4th of July!

I can't believe it's already July before I know it we will be celebrating a new year. As many parents know a babies first year goes by entirely too fast. Sure they grow like weeds regardless but that first year zooms by you in a heartbeat. I am sitting here with a sleeping boy next to me and I am in awe  at how quickly 10 months have gone by. This time last year we were trying desperately to see the fireworks at Busch Gardens for the 4th. We got rained on but we still had a blast. This year we're in Japan and have an Eli in tow. We saw fireworks and ate some yummy burgers. Eli enjoyed some watermelon and Zack played with some new friends. It was a great 4th this year and we couldn't have asked for more in our lives.

Eli enjoyed watermelon. As of now this is his favorite thing to eat aside from breast milk.

The kids played hard and gave Steven a workout. Margot and Zack are like two peas in a pod and Eli just loves watching them.

 Zack is on the left on his first 4th of July. He was about 7 1/2 months old. Eli is on the right and he is 10 months old. They are complete opposites. Zack in awe over fireworks…Eli has no picture of watching fireworks because he doesn't like them. Zack  with his binky…Eli refuses binkies. Time sure does fly and I love them so much.

Ok I am going a little collage crazy here…sorry but here's our big boy Zack on all 4 of his 4th of Julys. From left to right 2009 7 months, 2010 1 year, 2011 2 years, 2012 3 years.

And here is Eli last year on 4th of July……

Hope you all have had a wonderful 4th of July and have enjoyed my picture explosion. 

When I grow up, I want to be a...

Let's take it back to 1990 something when Spice Girls were amazing, Rugrats was good kids TV, when you thought Pocahontas was the best movie EVER! Ok…ok so maybe I still think these things but that's not up for discussion. Remember when you finished this sentence with something like firefighter, ballerina, Britney Spears? Personally I wanted to be Nicole Kidman because I was in love with Moulin Rouge. But let's get real here, I could never pull off her hair or her alien like skin.

If someone had told me that I was going to be a stay at home mom to 2 little boys. I would have shot it down 1.) It was impossible for me to get pregnant because I would never kiss a stinky boy! YUCK and 2.) If I were to have kids I would have 5 little Nicole Kidmans running around so I could dress them up and put them in ballet (I obviously had not fully understood what teenage girls were like). This whole little girl fascination went on until I was pregnant with Z. I was convinced I would be having a girl. Our conversation the night before the ultrasound.

Steven: Lina you know we're having a boy right? 

Lina: huh? I know we're going to have a little girl. We should go buy some cute outfits.

Steven: Boys run in my family

Lina: Yes boys run really fast in your family.

So there I was getting all dolled up to go look at my baby "girl" we were going to name her Trinity and she was going to be just..like..me (I am sure my parents are laughing now, if you knew me in high school you understand.) They put the goop on my belly and there she was so little and perfect. This ultrasound was such a tease I wanted to take my little princess home NOW. 

Roberta (yes I remember her name): IT'S A BOY!!!!

I stopped and looked at the screen and started to cry. Not because of disappointment. I was really excited! A boy just like his Daddy. The man I fell in love with and the man who will always love me in return. I started picturing all the baseball games and our home being filled with trucks, dinosaurs, and superheroes. When I left the clinic all excitement of little girl was gone. We were going to have a boy. I remember calling Steven afterwards and telling him. He was so excited! That night we picked his name and started calling him Zack. When we got pregnant with Eli I didn't even wish for a girl I wanted another boy. So when they told us again "IT'S A BOY!!!" I was so excited to give Zack a brother and have another little Steven running around. 

So here I am doing absolutely nothing what I thought I would be doing and I couldn't be happier about it. I am a stay at home mom to 2 amazing little boys. I am building my very own photography business and I live in Japan. Life is simply good. So here it goes…..

"When I grow up I want to be…a better mom, wife, and photographer than I was yesterday"

Hello old friend.

We are here!!!! In Japan!!! AND I LOVE IT!!!!! Ok so we have technically been here for a month and I haven't updated the blog for many understandable reasons.

1.) For the first days jet lag was terrible and all I wanted to do was sleep, eat, shower, sleep, eat, shower. 

2.) After the jet lag was all gone. I wanted to explore and exploring takes time and a lot of energy. 

3.) We were searching for a house OFF BASE (more on that in a few)

4.) We are in a hotel room…a very nice hotel room but it doesn't give me much "me" space to blog. 

5.) I was lazy and actually had plenty of time when I could have posted but hey it's ok because I AM BACK!

So all the fun happenings. The flight was great and the boys were surprisingly really good. Zack didn't fuss much and Eli slept a lot it was bliss. In a weird cramped space with weird food and small bathrooms kind of way. When we got off the plane and got through customs we drove to the base about an hour. My first impression of Japan was….scary. I don't know why maybe it was because of the opposite side of the road driving or the Japanese writing everywhere. I was like…"Ok let's go home now!" It took me a bit to really adjust. So far I am in love with this country. That first impression was only in a car and I was exhausted so it just doesn't count. 

We have gone all over our area from Machida to Kamakura to Ebina and back again. We absolutely love this country. So much so that we decided to move off base….dun…dunn…dunnnn. I know what you all are thinking and no I am not going to be living in a temple or inside the big buddha. No we have a very nice almost 3,000 square foot house out here that we are moving into on the 30th. The house is beyond our expectations. Big, 2 stories, hard wood floors, room to play and garden and we have a few American neighbors. The only downside is being far from the base but hey were right by Costco so I am happy with that. I am going to upload lots of pics sometime today or tonight or tomorrow. 

The one thing I do miss here in Japan is….Target. So please enjoy it for me. 

Here we go….

As the last few days here in New Mexico dwindled down. I looked around and the people who I care about the most and couldn't be more blessed to have these individuals in my life. Being able to spend these 2 months with my family and friends has been great. Not going to lie though, I am ready to get to Japan and get this new life started. Still…I am so happy to be in the presence of all these amazing people and to be here for so many wonderful events. I was here for my brothers wedding and both their birthdays. I was here to see one of my friends become a mom and I was here to see Hunger Games at midnight (yeah I know haven't seen midnight in awhile) with my best friend, husband, and sister-in-law.

Today we leave at 7pm to Seattle and then tomorrow we head out on our long 17 hour flight to Japan. I already am set to go to a breastfeeding moms meeting on Thursday morning. The feelings I am having are very bitter sweet right now. I just can't believe this coming weekend I am going to be in a different country on the other side of the world. It's all so surreal to me.

When we get to Seattle or Denver I will update you all...

Leave him ALONE…..

I feel that trying to get Zack to do what I feel he is supposed instead of letting him be his own kid is my greatest downfall as a parent. Whether it be Easter Sunday and he is not picking up the eggs instead he decides to play with the dog or an old beat up toy truck. I mean honestly who could resist taking a confetti egg and smashing it on someones (primarily Mom or Dad) head. Nope my boy prefers to do his own thing and that I am learning is perfectly ok. 

So I have decided to just leave him alone. Let him explore and yes I am going to let him get into things. How else is he going to learn? Like the great Dory from Finding Nemo once said. 

"If you never let anything happen to him, then nothing will happen to him"

We have to remember that no matter how old these kids are they are their own person. They are going to continue to do their own thing whether we like it or not. Might as well encourage them and help them excel in what they are good at and what they like. Watching Zack completely ignore his cousins on Easter verified this for me. It also makes me happy to know that he is perfectly content to not follow the crowd. While they ran around and played tag my little Zack was playing with the trucks and discovering different bugs. He even ran over a few bugs with his truck. He has a mind of his own and if I constantly keep him from exploring he is never going to learn his way which is of course hands on….everything. So for some advice to my other super moms out there leave your kids alone and watch them explore you might be surprised as to how well they behave and what they can find.

Sunshine, Weddings, and Love

This trip to New Mexico has been insanely busy but wonderful. Seeing family and friends and just enjoying some darn good Mexican food. I think I have gained 10 pounds since being but I really could care less. I don't eat to live; I live to eat. I have been so busy eating that I have neglected my beautiful blogging. I really actually have been missing my blogging time. To catch you all up on things going on in between good food and being busy. We have just been enjoying our time with family. I just love them. For the last few weeks we have been prepping for my brothers wedding and today was the day.
I had the pleasure to officiate their marriage. I gained out of all this an amazing sister-in-law, Jessica. She and I have become best friends in a very short period of time and I think when we leave here I am going to be saddest about leaving her. I just don't know what I will do without all the bridesmaids and steel magnolias references. I am so happy for them and can't wait for them to visit us in Japan.

I can't believe we move in 16 days. I am for sure excited to have our own space again and I don't think we will be spending this long in Las Cruces again. It just takes a lot out of us and the boys. I know Zack misses Virginia because he constantly talks about it. I hope he will be so excited with his new friends and school that Virginia will become a distant memory. I know the one thing I miss about living on the coast is the humidity. Thank goodness Japan is humid. This dry weather is killing me! On the bright side it has been beautiful weather lately and I think I might be getting a tan. This for a woman who refuses to lay out in the sun or even a tanning bed to tan and slabs on a ridiculous amount of  SPF50+ is a big deal. I don't mind my natural skin color but it is for sure nice to get a little darkness to it and it doesn't take much for me to tan. I am also working on my fitness. I have started pilates and am trying to run 3 times a week. I want to get back in shape before we have another baby. Here I go rambling on. I am going to continue to try and update as often as possible. This is just dependent on my time given for computer time. I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful spring weather because summer is right around the corner and I have a feeling it's going to be a hot one.

All my love

Wordless Wednesday- Silly Boys

In the Land Of Enchantment

So we made it safely to New Mexico. The flight was scary and no I don't have any advice or tricks because nothing really worked for me. It was just about survival on my end. Yes we made it all in one piece, but I felt like I was on an episode of Man Vs. Wild the whole flight. I wanted to dig a hole and curl up in it when I got back to my parents house. I now know I will never ever ever ever ever ever ever fly with those boys by myself again. I say that now but it will happen again. At least now I am fully prepared...well now fully but pretty darn close.

New Mexico has been nice. I met my new future sister-in-law and I love her to pieces. I am very excited to have her as a sister and to welcome her into our very nutty family. Zack is having a blast and thank goodness he hasn't been too upset about not being with Daddy. He will ask for him at bedtime but it is surprising how understanding he is when I say "Daddy will be with us soon, we just have to wait" he will say something like "night night Daddy" or "I miss you Daddy" and then go to sleep. I let him know that Daddy can hear him all the way in Virginia. So hopefully he understands.

I am going to go curl up in my hole now and get some rest. Miss all my east coast friends. You all hold a special place in my heart.

Zack-isms

While watching Lion King...

Zack- "I like hyenas"

Me- "Why?"

Zack-"They're funny"

Me- "Aren't they on Scars side?"

Zack-"No Scar washed brain" (meaning brain wash)

Me-"They don't seem very nice"

Zack- "They hungry mama! Be nice!"

 Oh Zack always finding the good in everyone and paying to much attention to our documentaries about war and brainwashing.

Educated Nurser

We have sure come a long way in the blogging world. At first this blog was to post pictures and updates on Zacks development so Steven could be involved while on deployment. When he got home it became the blog for our family to stay updated. It has just grown into so much more than just a family blog. It gives me great joy to know that my posts are helping moms out there.

I was browsing through old posts today and came across this gem...

"Well tonight was Zacks first feeding on formula. I'm really in a way kinda bummed about the whole thing. My breast milk is drying up so his pediatrician told me that I need to start weaning him to formula this week. It is such a let down on my part. But then again no matter how much i know breastfeeding is good for him and all that. I really wasn't enjoying seeing him hungry after feedings. He just wasn't very satisfied at all from it. And then pumping was depressing i could only produce an ounce from both breasts together. It just isn't working. I'm just wondering how much hes going to get during the day while i feed him formula at night he will be getting the breast during the day just to get him used to it. And next week i will start taking away another feeding everyday so by the end of 2 weeks he will be only on formula. Gosh why does it hurt so bad? I feel like I'm letting him and myself down. Plus formula is so expensive but he has to eat right?! Right....so i need to do this for him.

Anyways.....well he took the formula great so far. I gave him a bottle of Enfamil milk based formula after his bath tonight. So far so good hes sleeping and no spit up and he burped like a champ throughout the whole feeding. Of course he might have some gas the next few days but his doc said that was normal when switching to formula and to give enfamil a week and if he's still not getting used to it then to call him and he will give another suggestion.

Ill keep you guys (whoever reads this) updated on his formula adventure.
Much love"

This was titled Time For Formula. Not only was my grammar terrible but I was really a very uneducated Mom back then. If you know me you know that I am pro breastfeeding 110% I believe every Mom can breastfeed and if they put in the effort and dedication it will happen. I have friends who will pump for hours everyday just so their babies can get enough. Of course I understand there are certain circumstances that call for supplementation. But with my situation it wasn't like that at all.

As you can read above I talk about him being always hungry after feedings or as I remember it soon after like within an hour. If I had been more educated on the subject I would have known that this was called cluster feeding. My pediatrician immediately assumed my healthy weight baby wasn't getting enough because of his behavior. They put me on vitamins to increase my supply but I was already switching him to formula and cutting out feedings. Again if I had been more educated on "supply issues" I would have known that formula was unnecessary and I should have nurse him on demand. I remember being so caught up with all my friends telling me their babies slept through the night at 3 weeks and I wanted that too.

I regret this decision all the time. I put my little guy through so much for just about 2 months. His little virgin gut did not take regular enfamil, similac, soy based formulas, good start etc. He kept spitting up and it caused his reflux issue to get worse and worse. Every time we switched formulas he would cry and cry for days because his tummy hurt. By the time we found the brand he would take with no pain but still spit-up I was getting ready to start him on solids at 4 months. This is also another thing I won't be doing again. I pumped that little body with artificial foods when I could have been giving him what is natural and best for him. Now that I am more educated I look back and regret a lot. Thankfully now Zack is a healthy little boy but I definitely feel a disconnect with him. If I could turn back time I would build that nursing relationship and keep it going.

If I could give any advice to a Mom it would be to learn everything you need to know about nursing and find a support group. Thankfully this time around I was introduced to an amazing group of nursing Moms who really opened my eyes on a lot more than just nursing. I just went to my last meeting with them and I cried on the way home because I don't think I will find such a wonderful group like them. Lucky for me they have a facebook page so no matter where I am in this world I know I have support right there. If you need any support at all click on the Breastfeeding Mamas link below.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/breastfeedingmamas/

Happy Nursing

Wordless Wednesday-Discovering

Join on the Wordless Wednesday blog role at http://mamato3blessings.blogspot.com/

Stupid is as stupid does

The word....Stupid. Is it really as bad as what we make it out to be? We as parents realized that the word and other choice 'curse' words are everywhere. No matter how much we fight to prevent our kids from hearing them; they will unfortunately pick them up. Of course lately the Z man has picked up on the word...Stupid. Here is what really grinds our gears. He didn't pick it up from us or school because you know...2-4 year olds are cussing up storms these days. No he got it from movies. Not our movies HIS movies. Nemo, Bugs Life, Lion King, Despicable Me, Tangled etc. How can these companies put the word in there and not expect kids to copy. Those are his favorite movies and when we get to Japan there will be no cable; so how do we allow him to watch his favorite things but expect him not to want to imitate these characters?

Do we do the age old trick, also featured on A Christmas Story, soap in the mouth?

No we can't risk soap poisoning.

Do we drill it into them like drill sergeants whenever they say these words?

No because when you take this approach they never listen no matter how loud you yell it.

What happens when you tell a child to stay away from the cookie jar? They immediately go for the cookie jar the minute you look away or leave the room. It becomes a personal vendetta for them to get into that jar no matter how high or difficult it is to get to it. They will probably still go for it if you put broccoli in it just because you said "DON'T TOUCH THAT JAR!!!" The best way to prevent any words or bad behavior is to lead by example. If you constantly cuss don't get mad at your kids for copying you. You are their greatest role models. They will always look to us for guidance. The movies, friends, and music will always be there and banning them completely would be well...stupid. If your kid starts picking up less than good words you can simply explain to them that the word is bad and Mommy and Daddy never say words like that. Don't drill them and please don't wash their mouths out with soap. Another good thing is to ask where they got the word from. When I asked Zack he didn't quite understand at first and then he said Grasshopper. So I immediately knew he picked it up from A Bugs Life. We briefly took it away but then we started noticing it everywhere we went. So recently he said it and I asked where he learned and when he said Grasshopper. I asked him "Isn't grasshopper the bad guy" and of course in Zack fashion he yelled "YEAH!" like he was really excited about it. Then I asked him "Wasn't grasshopper mean to the ants and didn't share the food with them? Or help them get the food?" Then I think it hit him and he connected the dots. Sure the word slips from him sometimes but he immediately gives me a look like he knows it was an accident. No kid wants to be mean and they want friends. So I think it really stuck with him. So happy it did because I was getting tired of being called stupid by a 3 year old. So what is your techniques? Please share them.

Discipline or Education

In my whopping 3 years of parenting I have noticed many parents refer to how they 'control' their children with the term discipline. Here is the definition of the term...

dis·ci·pline

 /ˈdɪsəplɪn/ Show Spelled [dis-uh-plin] Show IPA noun, verb, -plined, -plin·ing.

noun

1.

training to act in accordance with rules; drill: military discipline.

2.

activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training: A daily stint at the typewriter is excellent discipline for a writer.

3.

punishment inflicted by way of correction and training.

4.

the rigor or training effect of experience, adversity, etc.: the harsh discipline of poverty.

5.

behavior in accord with rules of conduct; behavior and order maintained by training and control: good discipline in an army.

 

I understand that as parents we have to prepare our children to behave well and listen to us; but is it really needed to call it discipline. It sounds like I am punishing an inmate or teenager who just got caught doing drugs. I think the correct term for us is Educate. I educate my children on what is right and wrong. 

 

Definition of EDUCATE

transitive verb

1

a : to provide schooling for <chose to educate their children at home> b : to train by formal instruction and supervised practice especially in a skill, trade, or profession

2

a : to develop mentally, morally, or aesthetically especially by instruction b : to provide with information : inform <educating themselves about changes in the industry>

3

: to persuade or condition to feel, believe, or act in a desired way <educate the public to support our position>

 

Children don't need to be yelled at or spanked. Sure a good firm explanation is okay but I have noticed with Zack that he just doesn't respond to any "discipline" I need to take him by the hand and explain to what he did wrong and what he can do to fix it. So far for us this has been working great. We won't let him play with all his toys at once. He gets one toy and when he is done with that one he can put it away then pick out another one. After a craft or lesson he has to put it all away before he moves on. This has been teaching him so much self control. I am going to continue on this Educate route because it is working wonders. What do you think? Do you educate or discipline?

Just one of those days.

There are just some days where lying around all day seems completely productive. I have been on the go for the last few weeks getting all this overseas medical and dental screening taken care of that I really just want to soak in a hot tub and relax. But I can't just yet. This whole move thing isn't over and it's not going to end for awhile. I still have a flight to New Mexico to prep for. WHICH I have not even started getting things ready for it. I really need to get a jump on it considering it is 12 days away.

Trust me I am very excited to go visit home and see old friends but this isn't just a visit. I am going to be pretty much living there for a total of 2 months. Out here in Virginia I have been spoiled with the amount of wonderful activities that are at my disposal whenever I need them. Museum, busch gardens, indoor pools, bounce houses, amazing parks, zoo, aquarium, etc. There is plenty to do here and where I am going in New Mexico is great but I am going to need to get creative when it comes to preschooler activities. I guess that's what being a Mom is all about. 

For now though this Mom is heading to her nice hot bath. Goodnight and remember to click to vote for us at topmommyblogs.com. Just click the banners as much as you want and go have a look at other blogs.

Turning Japanese Part 1

Not going to lie here this is what goes off in my head every time someone talks about our move to Japan.

At first it seemed like such a faraway thing that I had plenty of time to prepare for it but nope it's literally right around the corner sneaking up on us. Today the boys and I made the trip to Virginia Beach which by the way is very far far away like over an hour far away. We got our dental, turned in our medical, I got a shot (ouch), and it's finally ALL done! The rest is in Stevens hands and all I have to worry about is the massive amount of clutter in my house. I leave on the 15th and until then I will be getting rid of a lot of junk that we have built up over the years so that when I leave on that Wednesday to fly to New Mexico by myself with 2 boys Steven won't have a lot to clean up. Wish us luck on this new adventure. The fun starts now.

6 Tips for Potty Training

"I MAKED POO POO IN THE POTTY!"

And....that my loves is what Zack is saying to us when he has to go poop. Yes yes YES! He is finally potty trained...well...except at night but we will work on that later on. It took us 4 days to get him to this point. Both Steven and I had enough and let the little man run in his birthday suit. It was a VERY VERY long 4 days and everyones emotions were on turbo speed but he did it. I am one proud mama! He is very proud of himself too.....


He wanted to wear his cool Harley undies Stevens parents got him for his birthday and he rocked Daddies sunglasses. Now here's for the fun part. How did we do it? Sure running around in the nude isn't the only thing that we did. But it sure feels like it. We are in no way shape or form pros at the land of potty training but here is a few of our tips that helped us.

 Tip #1 Buy a good potty. We tried the whole potty on the floor but it just wasn't happening for Zack. He is a little copycat and wants to do everything like Mommy and Daddy. So we invested in this one. I have forgotten what brand it is but it's cushioned and has some nice green handles. Zack even picked this one out. So I think that made him want to use it even more. Oh the toilet comes off and on real easily so it's easy for him to put on himself.



Tip #2 Reward Reward Reward! We did not like the whole give candy or TV time that others have used. So since I am cheap and frugal I just grabbed a piece of printer paper, taped it on the wall, pulled out 2 sheets of stickers from Zacks ever growing sticker stack, and let him pick 1 sticker for pee pee and 2 for poo poo. We even made this a little educational. One of the sticker sheets has the alphabet so he has to say what letter he wants instead of just pointing at it. As you can see he has a lot of stickers and he is so proud of them.

 Tip #3 Let them be nude! This is the best part for them. Kids love to be naked and they have no care in the world to be naked. Don't you just love innocence?

Tip #4 Stay home- One big thing that kept throwing us off was leaving and putting the pull up back on him. So from Friday to Monday we kept him home 110%

Tip #5 This is mostly for boys but let them decide how they want to pee. Standing or sitting? Zack chose something along the lines of sitting. He is kind of squat/sitting....if that makes any sense. Sorry no pictures of that it's a little too much nakedness.







Tip # 6 Remind! I can't stress this enough! We did NOT force Zack to sit on the potty at a certain time. We just kept on asking him "Do you need to pee pee/poo poo?" which quickly turned into "Do you need to potty?" This just constantly reminded him that "Oh hey! I do need to go!" This saved us from messy floors and an aching back from constant scrubbing. Not once did he poop on the floor and only had 3 pee pee accidents.  Thankfully none were on Eli.

So here we are...we have him telling us when he has to go and successfully going potty in public. I am so proud of my little guy. It's still shocking that he is potty trained he is growing way too fast for my liking but we are soooo close to not buying pull ups. He only gets them at night and nap time. So that is 2 a day. What a relief!