Potty Training and Allergies

I need to get started potty training Smug-Baby. I know that the first step is to educate myself on the best way for us to get started and I have a book and I also have a few other things on request at the library. I know that I want to make sure that I have everything in line before we get started so we don't have any setbacks due to my not being ready. I know that Smug-Baby is totally ready!

I was thinking about it tonight and thinking that maybe having another potty or two around the house for easy access might be a good idea and wondering if I should get something in the way of disposable training pants and then it hit me - underwear! I should probably purchase some underwear!! From what I have read and discussed with others, once you start you never, ever go back to diapers, so getting a good supply of underwear might be one of those must do things!!

I think that I need to pick a weekend, take Friday and Monday off work (provided I am still employed at that point) and just do it!! Not plan to go anywhere just stay home and focus on getting her comfortable with going on the potty.

I have a portable potty seat that fits (badly) into the big seat so I can take that if we are going somewhere once she is trained and she already has a little potty that she sits on sometimes. I need to get the underwear, but what else??

I read a blog post from a woman who trained her son by giving him tons of juice and taking him to the potty every 10-15 minutes and he just peed all day long! This sounds like a good plan to me, but then I was reading online that being trained is all about being independent and the child recognizing that she/he needs to go without being constantly reminded by mom. Not sure how I am going to tackle this yet, I guess I need to buckle down and read the book I have and get those items from the library before I plan on anything.

The other thing that I am going to have to put some effort into if getting Smug-Baby off dairy. She is just like her mama - loves cheese more than anything else and pays for it with a runny nose and dry patches on her skin.

I know that MOST babies are sensitive to diary and other animal products but tend to gain a, lets say, resistance to it as time goes on, but in those that are more sensitive this allergy or intolerance results in a lot of respiratory issues (as dairy is highly mucus inducing) and as in mine and Smug-Baby's case, severely dry skin and some patches of VERY dry on the arms, legs and stomach.

I had hoped that she wouldn't have a sensitivity since we all love dairy so much, but as her skin has developed the dry patches that I get and her nose has started to run more than it doesn't I am convinced that she has and now I need to do something about it.

The first step will be to remove all animal products from her diet (eggs, dairy and meat) for two weeks. This will clear everything from her system and allow time for the runny nose and dry skin to clear up. Then I will add back eggs only at first. A few over a couple of days and watch her for reactions. If she's fine, then add a few bites of meat back into her diet. She doesn't eat much meat, so I don't really think that this is what she is reacting to, but I want to be sure. Lastly, if she doesn't have any reactions to the eggs and meat, then I will let her eat dairy a few times a day for a couple of days.

My guess is that she will react right away to the dairy and not at all to the eggs and meat, because that is the way I am, but I want to be sure that I find exactly what her triggers are.

During the "fasting" from animal products period I will need to find her some alternatives to some of her favorite dishes and clear them from the house. I know that Smug-Hub will have major issues with this, but he is going to have to get over it! He can deal for two weeks or so while we figure this out. So, I am listing below a few alternatives that I have thought of so far. Please comment if you have other suggestions or certain brands that you like.

Scrambled Eggs - scrambled tofu is actually very good and she has eaten it before. I think that it may take some convincing at first, but like anything she should get used to it. She normally has eggs and potatoes for her weekday breakfast with her daddy, so if they are both eating the tofu, she should be fine.

Mac and Cheese - this is a recent discovery of Smug-Baby's and she really loves it!! I have a few recipes for mac and cheese and there are boxed ones that are also dairy free, so that should actually be an easy switch.

Mashed Potatoes - this child may turn into a potato with all the potatoes she eats!! I can make them with Earth Balance and Silk Creamer instead of milk and butter, so again an easy switch.

Yogurt - I didn't realize that Smug-Hub was giving her yogurt until recently, but she loves it and will scarf down a whole container in moments! I have tried the Whole Soy brand with her and she doesn't really like it as much. She eats some, but not with the gusto of the "real" stuff. I am going to have to see about trying some other brands and find one that she likes.

Sweets - here is going to be hard, because Smug Mama is pregnant and sweets are kind of my weakness and when I get a craving I just about go nuts until I get something sweet. So, we have gotten used to having brownies, cake, cookies and ice cream in the house. I need to get some dairy-free alternatives in the house and get the "bad" stuff out! I need to do this for my sake and Little-Smug's as well as Smug-Baby's, but this will probably be the hardest for me to manage.

That's my list so far. I know that I will probably feel tons better myself once I get off animal products, but it is hard! There is so much that is so delicious out there!! It is hard to eat out and it is hard to have people over. All I think about it what I CAN'T have and that right there tells me that I have an addiction and I need to break free for my children and for myself!!

Now, I just have to do it... But first, let me finish those Girl Scout Cookies and that block of cheddar is just begging to be nachos!! oh dear....

Monday Again

As I sit here keeping an eye on the clock and listening to the sounds of silence in my sleeping house, I am filled with just how truly blessed I am to be living this exact life.

I worry sometimes about how we will get by once I lose my job, but the chance to stay home and raise my babies is all I have ever wanted to do and soon I will get to do just that! I have been planning the things that I will tackle between the lay-off and when Little-Smug joins the family on this side of my belly. There are days when the alarm goes off and I haven't slept well or Smug-Baby is curled so perfectly into my body that I can't bear the thought of working any longer and wish that the lay-off would hurry up and take effect already.

I worry about money, knowing that we are barely making the ends come together as it is and thinking about how best to arrange things so that we can keep our house and car and pay everything we need to once my income drops to $0. Then, I watch Smug-Baby run, unprompted, back into her grandparent's arms for one last round of kisses before we leave and I know that being her mom was the reason I was brought to this earth and I know in my heart that everything will work out just fine.

I know that things will be tight and there will be hardships and perhaps tough times in my relationship with Smug-Hub, but we love each other and can weather any storm together as long as we remember just how lucky we are to have created this amazing child between us. We gaze in awe at her as she says each new word, blows kisses for the first time, puts together a string of words to create something discernible, laughs as she understands something funny as being funny and says "funny" all at once. She is truly amazing and the greatest gift I have ever received.

Little-Smug is kicking me to remind his mama that he too is an amazing gift! I am so excited to meet this little man and see his eyes when he sees me for the first time! Last night, we played a game for the first time together. He would kick in a spot, so I would press on that spot and he would kick in the same spot again and I would press again. We did about 4 rounds before he got bored and swam off to the other side of his home for a while! He is there and he is working hard on growing and getting ready to meet us in a few months.

I can't imagine how life will change after he is born, but I can't remember what life was like before Smug-Baby came into it, so I guess this will be about the same. I mean, how did I spend my time before the routine of naps, playing with toy food, washing diapers, reading story books, the park and cuddling at night with someone so sweet!!

Two will be hard at first. I am told that there will be moments when you are not sure you will survive, but you do and then you will find that you can't imagine or remember life without them both.

I am truly blessed and lucky and I am off to greet the workday with an open heart and lightness of spirit!!

Happy Monday!

Weekend Plan

I am going to have an amazing weekend! I got up early this morning to get all packed and now that I am already to go, I have time for a quick post before I head off to work.

I am going to my friend's home to meet her daughter for the first time! Smug-Baby and I will head up there today as soon as I finish work and while I am packed to spend the night, I may just come home in the evening. I don't want to add any stress to my friend, she just had a baby and I know how tiring it can be to have visitors day in and day out and to add someone wanting clean towels to the mix can just be too much. We will play that part by ear!

The drive will take a little more than 90 minutes and I am thinking that Smug-Baby will nap most of the way and be happy once we arrive. Best laid plans and all, so we will see how that goes.

I picked up a little something for the new baby and a birthday gift for my friend's son, who turned two yesterday! I also picked up a new toy for Smug-Baby, thinking that she would be preoccupied with her own bag to dig into and let the boy open his own birthday gift!! Again, best laid plans...

I am so looking forward to seeing my friend! I haven't seen her since New Years and I miss her terribly! It is so hard to find people that you really connect with and don't drive you nuts on one level or another and while I am happy that she is happy in her new city, I really hate that she moved so far away!

We don't agree on every issue but the thing that makes this friendship great is that agreeing on every issue isn't the basis of our friendship and it simply doesn't matter to her that I think dairy is the devil that I can't seem to give up and I don't care that she eats meat! Our friendship is based on the fact that we both know what it is like to be seen as different and to feel judgment for our choices. We understand how much that hurts and how desperately we need to be loved and accepted for who we are and have it understood that we are making the best, most educated decisions about our lives, children, families and parenting styles as possible.

We may not do everything that same, but we are really on the same path of loving and caring about each other, not in spite of our differences but because of them.

All that being said, we really do agree on a lot of things and perhaps we would find it hard to be as fast friends if we were not on the same page about so much, but regardless I hold her very dear and I am so excited about seeing her!

I am also really excited to see how Smug-Baby reacts to the new baby. She has gotten very into babies lately, pointing them out when we see one and carrying around her baby books (the ones Santa brought her about being a big sister and having a new baby in the house). When you ask her where her baby brother is, often she will pat her own stomach. However, we aren't really around a lot of babies for any length of time so I am interested to see what she thinks of one up close.

Ok, I have to load all this stuff into the car and head off to work! Just a few short hours and I will be making faces at a new sweet and squishy baby of love!!! Have a great weekend everyone!!

Frustration

It may be the pregnancy hormones talking but I am not feeling the love lately. Smug-Hub is generally really great about putting himself in my shoes and seeing things from my side and we have always been able to come to a compromise about whatever we are disagreeing on by walking in the other's shoes for a bit.

Well, lately I am feeling like he is not at all interested in walking my shoes. He wants what he wants and is unwilling to even consider my feelings on the matter. I feel like he is so busy forming his response to what he thinks that I am going to say that he fails to even listen completely to my point. When I tried to talk to him about this, he cut me off to tell me how he is feeling.

One of the things that I think is important in a marriage is finding important the things that your partner finds important. That isn't to say that you have to suddenly become a Dallas Cowboy fan just because your husband his, but it does mean that you have to hand over the remote and maybe even watch the game with him when the Cowboys are playing instead of making him watch the Food Network.

I think that if something is important to Smug-Hub than I need to make it a priority to understand where he is coming from and try to give a little on my end to get us to a compromise. However, it is just as important that he find what I think is important also important and I am not feeling that from him lately.

I know that the adjustment to a new baby coming as well as the impending loss of my job has to be weighing heavily on him and I am concerned that rather than talking to me about his fears and concerns, he is just getting resentful; holding it all inside and trying to deal with it himself and that makes him preoccupied with his own stuff. Instead of talking out what is bothering him, he is just snappish.

I think that he feels like he is put upon at the moment with all his unexpressed worry and feels like that entitles him to be cut some slack in other areas. However, since this is just a guess on my part and I don't really know what is up with him, I just end up feeling taking advantage of and like what I want or need doesn't matter.

What I need is for people to take care of the pregnant chick right now! I don't want to have to coddle anyone's hurt feelings, stepped on toes, or perceived offencies. I want my husband and everyone else in my life to take a chill pill and understand that being pregnant is hard! Being pregnant with an early morning job and a full time toddler is super, freakin', crazy hard!! I need some love people!! I need Smug-Hub to get out of his own head, grow up and be the man of the family!! Put Smug-Baby and I before his own wants and needs!!!!

Maybe he feels like he is doing that and staying up late at night is his one concession, but I wouldn't know that because he isn't talking to me. Maybe he feels like since he has the weight of our financial future on his shoulders (which he doesn't, but maybe he feels that way) that I should give in to him when he wants something, but again, he isn't talking about anything deeper than what's for dinner!!

I know that I should be talking to him about all this and not venting here, but hey! this is what my blog is for - keeping track of my life and all that happens. The good, the great and the really sucky!

I love my husband and I think we have an amazing love and life together. It's not that I think he doesn't love me or want to be a good husband. I just think we are having a little rough patch and it's time for a sit down, open and honest discussion!!

Thanks for letting me bitch!

She is Two!

Two years ago today, she made me a mother. She was perfect then and perhaps even more perfect now. I can't believe how much time has passed and how quickly! She has changed so much over the last year.

We had a birthday party for her this weekend and she was amazing! She was good as gold; sharing her toys, blowing out her candle (with some help), and opening her gifts. She faded quickly after people left and took a nice long nap, but during the actual party she was wonderful!

Below are several pictures from her party:



Above is one tried and happy party girl!!

 

She received wonderful gifts and she loves them all. The shopping cart was probably the biggest hit, after the balloons of course!! But she really does enjoy and play with everything she received!

 

My Smug-Baby is two! I can't believe it! She has learned so much over the last year and over the course of her whole life. She knows so many words now! She has full on opinions. She is courageous and has no fear when to comes to climbing something, jumping off of something or trying new things. As long as she has hold of mine or daddy's hand, she is confident to try almost anything!

 

She has decided what foods she likes (cream of wheat, lentil soup, cheese and everything else) and what she doesn't (almost nothing :) ) She knows what programs she likes on TV (Elmo, Peppa Pig, and newly Shrek!) She is full of love and hugs and kisses. She asks for kisses when something hurts, magic mommy kisses heal almost all wounds! She shares her toys and food with others, even when they don't want what she is offering.

 

She is my life and my love and I can't imagine spending more than a few hours away from her! I even get bored when she takes a long and nap and wish she would wake up so I would have someone to play with!

 

Someone asked if love at first sight exists and I say to you now - Oh yes! It totally does!!

 

Happy Birthday Peanut Butter Face!!!!

 

What The Heck Does That Mean???

I am off to work in a few moments, but I had a dream last night that I thought I should record before it left me.

I dreamed that I was participating in some contest where you get random people to pose with you for a picture in front of their house, holding a group of white flowers. I ended up at my old apartment (my first apartment actually), and was going to knock on the door to the downstairs apartment because these were, apparently, my old roommates (not true in real life). Instead, as I came up the stairs of the porch, the door to the upstairs apartment, my old apartment opened and my old boyfriend, Dave stepped out and said hello. I realized that he thought I was there to see him and I didn't want to hurt his feelings so I went upstairs with him.

I guess he had seen me coming up the sidewalk with flowers and got the wrong idea. The thing is, he looked terrible!! He was balding on top while letting the rest of his rapidly thinning hair grow long and straggly down to his shoulders (He always had thick hair). He was overweight by a lot (he was always very fit when we were together) and wearing a polyester suit, a la Napoleon Dynamite that was about 3-4 sizes too small.

You could see every pudge and roll and it was embarrassing to look at him. I think that is why I went along upstairs and let him think that I was there with flowers to make up or something because he just looked so bad and pathetic!

Anyway, we made small talk for a bit and I don't even remember anything except I asked him why he was still living in that rundown apartment so many years later, but I don't remember his response.

Next thing I know, I am downstairs. I guess I left Dave with the excuse that I needed to find my keys (what?) and went downstairs to try to get the picture I was originally there to get and ran into my old roommates, who just happened to be the full cast from The Big Bang Theory.

In this dream, we had all been roommates a long time ago and there was easy banter back and forth. Then Dave came in and yelled at me for pretending to look for my keys and leading him on.

That was the end of the dream and I am not sure why I woke up thinking about it, but I guess there is a part of me that would love to run into some of the people in my life who have hurt me and see a physical manifestation of the debt they are paying to Karma! I would also like the people who have hurt me to feel badly about it and say that they are sorry, but Dave didn't do that in this dream, he thought I was there to get back with him, which is to say that his ego appeared to be still fully intact!

I haven't thought about Dave much in the last several years, after all I haven't laid eyes on him since we broke up over 12 years ago. He did come up when we were considering David as a name for our son, but that was several weeks ago and I didn't give him another thought after Davy was discarded.

Maybe this dream has more to do with doing things for people because I feel sorry for them even when I don't want to than Dave specifically. I was there for another reason, but because I felt sorry for him I let myself be derailed from my plans. Hmmmm.... Except, I don't think that I do things for people because I feel sorry for them. I genuinely like helping people when and where I can (like holding a door for someone, or helping pick up when a stranger has dropped their stuff) and while sometimes it would be nice to have the favor returned (thank you to the dude who let the door slam on me while I was carrying my huge belly, a Smug-Baby, a diaper bag and several books!!), I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it.

Maybe dreams are just dreams and we shouldn't read too much into them... Too bad, I was sort of hoping that the dream I had about him:

Could somehow come true!!! :)

Happy Friday Everyone!

Sweet Dreams!!

Sickly Me

I am sick. I have been sick since Sunday, but it really hit me hard on Monday and Tuesday and I am just now feeling recovered enough to think about living. I really hate being sick, but it is really hard to be sick when you are pregnant and have a small Smug-Baby to take care of!!

I also have a huge list of things to do to get ready for her birthday party this weekend and my normal huge list of daily/weekly tasks that I need to do to keep the house running. And while I know that I should be resting, I can't settle enough to sleep or even relax knowing what I have to do and watching the time tick by knowing that I should be resting and at the same time should be getting stuff done.

I think that it's the mommy syndrome - when we become parents we suddenly become unable to take good care of ourselves. We want to, we just can't manage it. Forcing yourself to lay down to nap is easier said than done because you lay there running down your "to do" list in your head over and over and keep thinking "I really should jump up and get the dishwasher started and then I'll be able to nap" or "If I get that load of laundry started, it can be washing itself while I nap"

The problem is that once you start jumping up and get one thing going, you realize that you need to get just one more thing done and before you know it, Smug-Baby is toddling down the hall, finished with her nap and asking for lunch!!

The flip side is that you force yourself to lay there and not jump up and get anything done, and the to do list just plays in your head over and over and you feel more and more frustrated and toss and turn and never fall asleep and never feel rested and hate that you wasted this valuable time "resting" and getting no rest.

Its a nasty cycle and I have no idea how to break it. I want to take the time to rest. I do know that all the work will still be there and I can call on my family to help me when things get overwhelming, but I still can't seem to shut my head off and get the rest I know I need.

Oh well, I guess there isn't anything for it, but to try to find balance. Get some things done and get some rest.

Wish me luck today as the list is quite long but totally doable!!