Homemade Tic-Tac-Toe Craft

December 8th, 2009

I found this very cute idea in an issue of Woman’s Day Magazine. I knew immediately we just had to make these for the kids in our family for Christmas. (And little do my kiddos know that they helped make one for their very own as well!)

You will need 8 playing pieces – 4 ladybugs and 4 bumble bees and a gameboard/bag for each game.

The first step is to gather rocks. We don’t live near a place that we could find our own in nature, but we do live near a rock seller. We went there, explained what we wanted them for, and asked how much approximately 50 fairly flat river bed rocks were. The very nice gentleman told us he wanted absolutely nothing for them, just for us to remember him in the future. Wow! (If you live in Arkansas – contact me – I’d love to send business his way!) A side benefit of going there was that my kids had a blast picking them out of the huge mound, sliding, rolling, and generally getting filthy in it! We picked fairly large rocks so that the smallest of our family couldn’t get them in their mouths.

We brought our treasures home and I let the kids wash them in a pan at the table. We let them dry and then began the painting.

Paint them with acrylics.

After they dried we used permanent markers to put on the details. I let the kids help – the imperfections just make them all the more charming.

We used white paint to add the other details.

We then went through the same process for the yellow bumble bee pieces.

Next we drew a tic-tac-toe board with permanent marker on one side of a rectangular piece of material. It was at this point that my kids jumped at the chance to play. This was SO not posed. It’s a good sign that the kiddos in our family will enjoy it!

I folded the top edge over and sewed a straight line all the way across leaving a tube in order to run a ribbon through it for a drawstring. I used a drawstring from some old pajamas. A safety pin stuck in one end makes it easier to push the string through the tube.

I folded over the bag and sewed the bottom and side (making sure to leave the space where the ribbon comes out.)

Put your game pieces in your bag and you have a great homemade, cheap present!

My kids loved helping and then had a blast playing with it when we were all done. It can be as fancy – buying special material and lots of frilly glittery details – or as simple – I used an old shower curtain cut up for the bags – as you want. Just be sure to comment here with your link if you try it out – I’d love to see your version!

My Oldest's 3 Grade Curriculum

November 15th, 2009

I do have other children.  You know, besides the 2 youngest cutesy pies that tend to steal the show. 

When I took those pictures of the one month old and the 2 year old, I also took pictures of the other 3 doing their school work.  While looking at them (and realizing that I haven’t talked about actual school work since… when?) I thought I would let you in on what we’re doing.  And I have a couple of how-I-do’s on my 3rd grader’s work, but that’s for another day.  Today I just wanted to “write to remember” what we were doing at this point in our homeschooling lives.

I’m an eclectic homeschooler.  I’m not sure I would be (though probably, knowing me) if money weren’t an issue, but with lots of hand-me-down stuff, a little online research for scope and sequence (homeschool speak for what they should be learning when), a lot of real life learning, and a few supplemental dollar store workbooks and coloring books (oh, yes, I did just say that!) we have a plan for the year.  Or at least for the moment.

  

TheOldest is officially in third grade.  Officially, as in that’s what I wrote on the forms that I turned in and he will be taking the state mandatory test in the spring.  However, since we don’t follow a pre-printed curriculum I did do some research on what he should be learning this year, but mostly, I continued along with where we were.

Spanish.  All I’m using is a workbook from Wal-Mart.  It’s bright, it’s colored, and it’s very basic.  He was ready to learn the actual words before now, but he wasn’t ready for all the writing that came with the book.  So, we’re working through the workbook this year.

Grammar.  I had some hand-me-down worksheets from somewhere.  I don’t have any idea if the grammar we’re doing is 1st grade, 2nd grade, or 3rd grade.  No idea.  What I do know is that he hasn’t mastered them yet, so we’re covering them.  One day at a time.  Nouns – proper and common, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, pronouns, possessive pronouns, capitalization, the basics.

History.  I have a hand-me-down book (and teacher’s guide), but didn’t have the money for the workbook (which makes me sad, but has worked out just fine).  This book covers early American history.

Science.  We’re doing complete unschooling on this one right now.  More about how we’re unschooling later. 

Reading.  He has actually chosen chapter books to read now.  I really never thought this day would come.  His current reads include Encyclopedia Brown Solves Them All and The Dangerous Book For Boys.  His required reading is his history book (see above) – I assign between 2 and 6 pages a day. 

Math.  Again we use hand-me-down worksheets.  Because of this, again, we don’t have any idea if they are geared more towards 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade.  And once again, we just do the next thing.  I have looked at some sequencing sites online (plus a little common sense) so I know we need to do addition, subtraction, and are now introducing multiplication.  I will note: math has always come easy to him so I only included worksheets that move pretty quickly through each new concept with only the occasional review sheets added in.  As we did more regrouping (formerly known as carrying and borrowing, by the way) I realized he’s needing more practice.  I also realized he needed much more work with flash card type simple math problems such as 2+3, 6+5, you know, memorization kind of work (to make the regrouping easier). 

Handwriting.  Hoo-wee – handwriting’s the new reading.  Oh my goodness.  I have him write each day, more and more – he now fills out all the language arts worksheets, spanish worksheets, math problems, and just recently I’ve added a requirement of 5 complete sentences a day.    And this amount is our absolute limit – oh.my the fussing that accompanies this much writing.

Writing.  I’ve been working with him on organizing his thoughts, picking titles, and staying on topic.  More on this in my upcoming “how I do” post.

Geography, Social Studies, Current Events, Health.  These all fall into the “learning never stops” category for us, much like science.  He’s very interested in these things and we keep him up to date with news and allowowing him to research his interests.

We’ll, hopefully, be looking into practice tests for the state mandatory test before too long and, yes, I will be “teaching to the test” for this phase in our lives. 

Did I miss anything? 

What are you teaching your 3rd grader?  I’d love to know!

You Capture - Real Life

Okay, I’m late to I Should Be Folding Laundry’s You Capture blog party.  So, what’s new?  And I may be sent home from the party because technically Matt captured this picture and not me, it is called You Capture, but oh well, right?

I realized I’m always about being real, this is not new, but when I looked back at those loose-tooth pictures of MyMiddlest, I saw me.  Also not new - my hubby takes pictures of me quite frequently.  What is new is that I would show you an unedited, unposed, full color picture of me.  With no make up.  Not ready to leave the house.  And I normally abhor pictures like that.  But this one struck me. 

Because I’m smiling.  And I look happy.  Because I was happy.  And it doesn’t seem as though I am thatenough lately.  The weather was beautiful and all that tooth pulling was cracking me up. 

So that’s me.  Up there, not all dolled up.  Just me.  In real life.  Now the true challenge is to capture that joy and pour it out much more often.

Teaching Toddlers

November 12th, 2009

I’ve been asked before how I teach my littles.  And when I start.  Well..  I have no hard and fast rules.  And they’ve changed often.  But there are a few constants I follow.  I don’t start until they really want to start.  With MyOldest that was really, really late.  As in, I was still pushing him to do any kind of work after I had enrolled him (and then brought him home from) public school.  Granted, we put him in kindergarten at the young age of 4.  He just wasn’t ready.  A year later he was barely ready.  But because he’s the first and I was determined that he would look good in homeschooling for my sake I continued to push (I’m sure I still am and will regret this as well when I look back in a few years).  But that’s a different post.  With MyMiddlest I pushed less, but still didn’t really know what I was doing, what to look for.  By the time MyPrincess let me know she was ready, I was a little more prepared.  First of all, let me say, just because she joined us at the table at the age of 2 does not mean your toddler is ready.  My first two were not.  She just was.  And I’m sure that’s because she watched her two older brothers “do school” and she wanted to be a part of it.  So, I figured out how to include her.  And the other day when BigMan was begging to “do my school” (for weeksnow, by the way), I realized he really is ready to officially join us.  Yes, I know he’s 2 1/2.  I would never suggest your children should be “doing school” before they are potty trained, but hey, who am I to hold back a child begging to do school work.  Little does he know, he’ll be begging to not do school before too long!  So, while winging it with his work the other day I thought I’d let you in on what I do.

I found one of ThePrincess’s worksheets on opposites.  I cut it up a bit to make it easier.  I usually hit the basics and things I know they’ll want to do.  I draw colored lines and tell him to cut on them.

I let him cut them with no expectations of how he should cut at all.  No matter how it looks – it’s a “GREAT JOB!”

Then I explained that one was up and one was down.  I asked him which was which. 

Then I drew squares on the worksheet for him to glue within.  And explained again which side was up and which was down. 

And let him stick the picture on.  This age is all about following directions, knowing colors, learning opposites, building fine motor skills (cutting, gluing, picking up little pictures), and having fun.  With the emphasis on fun.  If he doesn’t want to do something we don’t do it.  He can wander in and out as often as he wants.  With no pressure what so ever.

 

Here’s another worksheet I made up on the fly.  Simple shapes.  I said things like, “Point to the little circle, find the blue crayon, color the little circle blue.  Are you sure that’s blue?  You’re right, it’s that one instead.  Great job!!”  And then I showed him what “tracing” was and asked him to “trace the black circle.” 

He was so excited to be a part of the school day! 

I say again, MyOldest wasn’t even ready for this level at the age of 4.  MyMiddlest wasn’t really either.  They just weren’t.  And your little ones may not be either.  This is just if you have a little one begging to do table work – it’s to give you an idea of how I get started.  If yours are not asking to be a part of school time, then just let them be kids, let them play, enjoy those carefree days, and don’t worry!

Teaching Toddlers

November 12th, 2009

I’ve been asked before how I teach my littles.  And when I start.  Well..  I have no hard and fast rules.  And they’ve changed often.  But there are a few constants I follow.  I don’t start until they really want to start.  With MyOldest that was really, really late.  As in, I was still pushing him to do any kind of work after I had enrolled him (and then brought him home from) public school.  Granted, we put him in kindergarten at the young age of 4.  He just wasn’t ready.  A year later he was barely ready.  But because he’s the first and I was determined that he would look good in homeschooling for my sake I continued to push (I’m sure I still am and will regret this as well when I look back in a few years).  But that’s a different post.  With MyMiddlest I pushed less, but still didn’t really know what I was doing, what to look for.  By the time MyPrincess let me know she was ready, I was a little more prepared.  First of all, let me say, just because she joined us at the table at the age of 2 does not mean your toddler is ready.  My first two were not.  She just was.  And I’m sure that’s because she watched her two older brothers “do school” and she wanted to be a part of it.  So, I figured out how to include her.  And the other day when BigMan was begging to “do my school” (for weeksnow, by the way), I realized he really is ready to officially join us.  Yes, I know he’s 2 1/2.  I would never suggest your children should be “doing school” before they are potty trained, but hey, who am I to hold back a child begging to do school work.  Little does he know, he’ll be begging to not do school before too long!  So, while winging it with his work the other day I thought I’d let you in on what I do.

I found one of ThePrincess’s worksheets on opposites.  I cut it up a bit to make it easier.  I usually hit the basics and things I know they’ll want to do.  I draw colored lines and tell him to cut on them.

I let him cut them with no expectations of how he should cut at all.  No matter how it looks – it’s a “GREAT JOB!”

Then I explained that one was up and one was down.  I asked him which was which. 

Then I drew squares on the worksheet for him to glue within.  And explained again which side was up and which was down. 

And let him stick the picture on.  This age is all about following directions, knowing colors, learning opposites, building fine motor skills (cutting, gluing, picking up little pictures), and having fun.  With the emphasis on fun.  If he doesn’t want to do something we don’t do it.  He can wander in and out as often as he wants.  With no pressure what so ever.

 

Here’s another worksheet I made up on the fly.  Simple shapes.  I said things like, “Point to the little circle, find the blue crayon, color the little circle blue.  Are you sure that’s blue?  You’re right, it’s that one instead.  Great job!!”  And then I showed him what “tracing” was and asked him to “trace the black circle.” 

He was so excited to be a part of the school day! 

I say again, MyOldest wasn’t even ready for this level at the age of 4.  MyMiddlest wasn’t really either.  They just weren’t.  And your little ones may not be either.  This is just if you have a little one begging to do table work – it’s to give you an idea of how I get started.  If yours are not asking to be a part of school time, then just let them be kids, let them play, enjoy those carefree days, and don’t worry!

Already

November 11th, 2009

He’s a month old. 

He’s lost his newbornness.  He’s quit peeling that first layer of getting-adjusted-to-air skin.  He’s lost his cord.  His fingernails are thicker than paper.  He will never have that meconium poop again.  He’s learned how to cry without forgetting to breathe.  He won’t tolerate swaddling anymore.

He’s traded that wrinkly skin that doesn’t quite fit for a robust pink, plump as he can get, creases that are difficult to find the end of, fat rings on his arms, nicknamed “fathead” for those huge cheeks that jiggle when he rides in the van.  He’s outgrown the “newborn” outfits and now is seeing the end of the 0-3 months clothes.  He’s well into the size one diapers.

He’s smiling.  He’s cooing.  He’s stretching his sleep at night to 5, 6, even as long as 8 hours one time.

Shortly after sharing that I was losing my mind one diaper at a time, I did regain my perspective.  Thanks to all of your sweet words, prayers on my behalf, and getting a little more sleep.  The same day that I let you in on my “losing it-ness” a sweet friend called to say that “none of the family is sick, could we please just bring you some chicken fettucine – we won’t get out of the van if you don’t want, we just want to keep you from cooking tonight.”  That kindness was followed shortly by another wonderful friend sending Steven Curtis Chapman’s new album This Moment with the note “Listen to track 7 – I know you will appreciate it.  Share it with other great moms you know. – Joyce”  It took me a full day to get up my nerve to listen to it.  I know, I’m a coward.  But I knew by the title of “track 7″ that I was not going to make it through the song with dry eyes.  Matt sat down with me the next morning and we listened to One Heartbeat At A Time.

One Heartbeat At A TimeSteven Curtis Chapman
Video/Photo montage created by “Ibelong2JC”

 

“You’re up all night with a screaming baby
You run all day at the speed of life
And every day you feel a little bit less
Like the beautiful woman you are

So you fall into bed when you run out of hours
And you wonder if anything worth doing got done
Oh, maybe you just don’t know
Or maybe you’ve forgotten

You, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time

With every “I know you can do it”
Every tear that you kiss away
So many little things that seem to go unnoticed
They’re just like the drops of rain over time
They become a river

And you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time

You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
How you’re changing the world
You’re changing the world

You, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
Oh, I believe that you
You are changing the world
One little heartbeat
At a time

And you’re changing the world”

I cried.  And remembered what I was doing.  And why.  And thanked my Father for friends who give what they know I need, when I don’t know I need it.

And rejoiced in the blessings that He’s given me.  Even when the level of “crap” that gathers around me hasn’t changed a bit.  But I can rejoice because the eyes that I look upon it with, have refocused. 

On my children.  That are growing older and farther from me every day.

And I rejoice that he’s one month old.

Already.

Why I Homeschool So Soon After Giving Birth

November 3rd, 2009

Several of you commented on my whining post (and I do feel better now, Jules was right, it was cathartic just to write it out, thanks for asking!) about my starting back to schooling as early as I do.  And I didn’t even disclose the fact that I started back at one week post partum.  I did the same thing 2 1/2 years ago when BigMan was born.  It is that I am a little crazy.  It is not so much that I feel like we’re going to “get behind” or anything so noble as that.  I’m not that responsible of a teacher.  It’s more like that we’re all bored out of our minds by this point.  Really.  Remember that stupid to-do list I had for myself, that included such important things like wiping the ceiling fan blades by myself 2 days before delivery?  I was working hard on all that and too outta my mind to teach those young’n's for about a month before TheFinalist arrived (last time I was busy moving into a new house 3 weeks before BigMan’s birth).  So, that sets up much unstructured (read: bored) time for the olders.  Add constant rain that keeps everyone cooped up and you have wall-climbing mind-shattering disasters afoot.  Especially if I do such things as put my feet up.  I take the first week off when my honey’s home (and I’m virtually useless anyway – pain pills, the pain that warrants said pills, letting a bunch of little ones learn about (and fawn over) their newest sibling, you get it). 

TheFinalist at 2 weeks

But when he heads back to work and the mundane returns then it’s time to focus some minds (or lose mine).  It allows me focused one-on-one time with them.  It allows their brains to actually work.  And, let’s be really honest, it takes up a lot of time.  That’s important when you need to sit a bunch and you have a lot of active people.  But fear not, sweet concerned friends, I take it slow, I sit for the duration of the work, and I have no time schedule (in actuality, I should have more, but eh, I’m kind of an eclectic unschooler anyway), and I know when to call it quits for the day.  Besides, schoolwork for us has become a way of life.  Not just school at home.  And that’s nice.  And comfortable.  But thanks for your worrying – it lets me know you love me!

Cheesy Egg Casserole

October 17th, 2009

For breakfast, for holidays, for a crowd, for leftovers.  It’s all good.  This cheesy sausage egg casserole is so yummy.  As Matt said, it’s like the ultimate breakfast sandwich all mixed into one.

Ingredients

• 1 pound cheddar cheese – shredded
• 10 eggs – beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 2 pounds ground sausage
• 10 slices of sandwich bread
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard (can substitue 1 tablespoon of regular mustard)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Brown and drain sausage.  Cut bread into 1/2 inch cubes.  Mix all ingredients in large bowl.  Spray 9×13 pan with cooking spray and pour mixture into pan.  Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. 

Notes:  Sometimes we mix different kinds of cheeses (we used half mozzarella and half sharp cheddar this morning) and sometimes we use a little more than a pound.  My kids LOVE this and I love that they’re eating something substantial.

Happy eating!

The Birth Story of LittleBuddy (Child number 5)

October 14th, 2009

As you already know, my honey live-blogged TheFinalist’s birth.  It was one heck of a party with a smashing total of 56 comments!  While y’all were partying in one way, I was partying in quite another!

Here I was the day before.

What stands out to me at this point is how much pain I was in.  We were stir crazy enough that Matt took us to Subway to kill time after that whole to-do list was completed.  I sat on the porch that evening crying, praying and visiting with Matt to keep my fears at bay and my sanity intact.  We talked about how pretty the sky was that evening and about the impending storms of two different kinds.  We talked of the beautiful clouds and about how we still couldn’t see past our apprehensions and doctor’s orders of the next day to the joy that would be our newest blessing.  As I sat crying about IVs, epidurals, and catheters he asked me, in complete seriousness if I was having a Garden of Gethsemene moment.  I knew to receive my blessing I would not be able to avoid my cup.  We dwelt on the verses 2 friends gave to us:  Be still and know that He is God.  And to remember that He does not give to us a spirit of timidity, but of power, of love, and of self-discipline.  He pointed to the time and suggested we try to remember the 5 o’clock hour of this day when were looking at another clock with the same time 24 hours from then.    And to try to envision the child we would be holding.

After not sleeping well in the night, I gave up and got out of bed at 3 something.  Which wasn’t as terrible as it sounds since our alarm was set for 4am anyway.  We dressed little people, grabbed granola bars for them, and headed out into the quiet, dark pre-dawn.  As I was buckling BigMan I realized I was standing in a fire ant hill.  Matt rescued me, buckled BigMan, got his own bites, and then we both fought off ants in the van.  We arrived at Nana and Papa’s house – a welcome port in the still-building storms.  The only home along that road with lights on, coffee brewing, toys waiting, and smiles at the ready.  We kissed heads, hugged necks, left instructions, diapers, and parts of our hearts behind and drove down the road ahead of us.

The car was palpably quiet as we drove away.  And we embraced it for a few minutes.  As we neared the city, the rains began.  They quickly became so heavy our focus shifted from the child ahead and the children behind to the storm in between.  There was little talking during this time.  I was thankful as we took our hospital’s exit that the trip had been a safe one.  At which point, the minor sporadic false contractions gave way to the intense undeniably real ones.  It was more back labor than I had ever had before and with the pain came nausea.  We parked, gathered our necessities, and Matt asked while helping me out of the car, “Is this the big one Elizabeth?”    We reached our floor and were met  by smiling nurses who expected a quiet induced shift change.  They had read my file, knew my history, and listened to my every word.  Without hesitation she dropped protocol, delayed the questioning, readied my antibiotic IV (which went over with less pain than I’ve ever had before) while I changed and prepared to check me.  Three centimeters and 90% effaced is where we started at 6:15am.  With the four previous pregnancies it took several hours to get to 4 centimeters, once there, however, it took approximately 20 minutes to be complete.  I’ve never heard the words “You’re five centimeters now.”  The next words spoken have always been, “Try not to push until the doctor gets here.”  Knowing this, the nurse ordered an epidural right away, began the baby warmer, asked me questions, and completed her shift change all at once.  We noticed right away that the baby’s heartbeat was dropping after the contractions.  She gave me oxygen, changed my position, and reassured us.   

Before the epidural

The anesthesiologist arrived.  He explained that my spine was just off-center and that could account for my previous epidural attempts having failed several times before getting it right.  We prayed for one try.  I didn’t think I had it in me to try more than once.  The delivery versus several epidural tries are a tie for me.  One try and in.  However, it only took on one side of my body.  Which was still enough of a relief that I could ask questions about the blog and care about what Matt was reading to me.  When the dust settled, I had met my new nurse, one antibiotic bag was in, and all was quiet.  As the nurse walked out she looked at the clock, smiled broadly, if a little mischievously, and said, “You get the second IV bag at 10:30a.  If you can make it that long.  See what you can do about that, okay?” 

Epidural Relief

And then we waited.  My parents arrived.  My husband blogged and read to me all your sweet and funny comments.  The baby’s heart rate settled into an overall more calming pattern.  My doctor came, checked me (still at a 3), broke my water, started a little pitocin, and reassured me by letting me know that he’d already done his rounds at the other hospital since I “go so fast” and that he’d be around the rest of the day.  Leaving me with a smile and, “Just give me about 10 minutes to be here, okay?”  Awhile later I remember looking at the clock at about 10a and saying, “I really hope we can get that second bag in the IV and then, really, I’m okay with being done.  Let’s do this already.”  At 10:30 she changed the antibiotic bag and we breathed a sigh of relief.  Matt and I discussed that the day before we were hoping to have had the baby by 3ish or 5ish so that we could go home on Saturday.  The nurse smiled and said she still thought there would be no problem making the 3:00 deadline we had hoped for.  She left the room saying, she’d be back to check me in a few and that she would bring the anesthesiologist to give me one last bigger dose in the epidural before the birth. 

Steady as they come

Within10 minutes of the last of the antibiotic bag dripping out, my contractions changed again.  I noticed my blood pressure was dropping.  Matt was concerned and asked if we should tell someone.  “Eh, wait.”  I said.  “We’ll see how the next one goes.”  With the next one, my moans turned to a near scream.  But when it subsided, I still asked Matt to “Maybe wait, maybe it’s just the epidural, the anesthesiologist is, afterall, on his way.”  On the third one, I asked him to get the nurse.  He stepped to the door to get her.  On the fourth one I told him, not so calmly or quietly, that I had to push.  Once again, they listened.  This part gets hazy for me.  It’s that otherworldly place you go when you have no epidural or the one you have is no longer working.  It’s that place where you’re vaguely aware that there are other people on the planet and that they might possibly be telling you to do something, but you can’t really hear them.  Or care to.  It’s the place where you hope they get the doctor, but even that is barely considered as all you can think about is bearing down with all you have.  Regardless of what they tell you.  I was somewhat aware that there were lots of people in the room.  Missing from the room were my nurse and my doctor.  Matt was to my left holding my hand.  The anesthesiologist, who didn’t get the medicine in time, was sitting on the edge of my bed to my left saying something reassuring like, “Even if your doctor doesn’t get here in time, there are lots of us here, and we can all catch a baby.”  My nurse made it just before the doctor, she checked me, and calmly announced to everyone, no one, anyone but me, because I didn’t really have to be told, “She’s complete.”  Followed by, “Can you breathe like this?”  I tried, but didn’t really care, because I had pushing to do.  And didn’t care who was in attendance.  I’m not sure how loudly I was yelling.  When I asked Matt about it later he smiled and simply said, “You did great, little lady.”  “But how loud was I?  Because I was loud, wasn’t I?  I was screaming, wasn’t I?”  He smiled and said, “You might’ve been a little loud.  But you did so great.  I was so proud of you.”  In the midst of the pushing, my doctor came in, put on gloves and watched as I finished what was begun.  When Matt cut the cord he was shaking so much it was endearing.  He was so overcome with adrenaline and emotion.  It never changes.  Even when there’ve been 5 of them. 

Relief

And then I held him.  And all the fears, pain, and apprehensions that had clouded my ability to think of him clearly fell away.  He was beautiful.  And here.  In my arms.  And nothing else mattered.  Matt kissed my mouth, held my hand, and looked at this beautiful baby with me.  They weighed him, took those precious prints, and gave him back.  And, thus, started a whole new chapter in the Parker Fairytale.

Baby Gear

This was originally posted in November of 2007 – you can read it here with all 18 comments that it illicited at the time.  I saw several of my friends were linking up with this Show Us Your Life BlogHop from Kelly’s Korner  (jump over there and check out what all the other moms say!) and I thought, “Wow, what timing!”  I just pulled this post out the other day to make my list for this new one.  So here it is all over again!

this is for david and jennifer!  they are having their first baby (everyone get ready to welcome anna!) and asked for suggestions here a while back.  hope this helps and feel free to put me on speed dial for middle of the night questions!

this has changed greatly for me since the first baby.  you might say i’ve learned a thing or two.  there are necessities and luxuries.  and i’m learning that much much less actually falls into the necessity category than you would think.  but most people are not quite as overboard about this as i am so i’ll include and review the others as well.

starting with your pack for the hospital bag:

the reality is the hospital is going to supply just about everything you need.  other than the carseat.  everything else is icing.  and having your first child you’ll want some of that icing!

i always carried a paci to the hospital.  (they usually put one in their bassinet) it’s your preference and then eventually theirs.  my first started with nuks and never wavered.  my 2nd wouldn’t take anything as much as i begged him.  my 3rd started with mams (i liked that they didn’t have to get them in the right way – they were always upright) but then she took any kind.  still does.  absolutely does not matter.  my 4th only takes mams.  it never affected my nursing from the first day forward.  i’m sure there are some that it has – it just didn’t mine.

onesies – just go on and buy a million of them.  the actual onesie brands stretch pretty badly, but the child of mine (called body suits) retain their shape pretty well.  (they wrap them in little hospital shirts that you can take home) take with you a special outfit that you want to take them home in.  it needs to be much smaller than you think.  even big babies are tinier than you can imagine the first time.

diapers  – (the hospital supplies you with a whole pack that you get to take home) my favs for newborns arepampers swaddlers.  so soft.  stretchy tabs.  soft tabs that don’t “rub” their belly.  even in our brokest these were my first choice.  after about 2 or 3 months i moved to the cheapest i could get.

bath wash – i have my favorite – off-brand yellow bottle head-to-toe - but that’s entirely up to you.  i do like the pump bottles because you only need one hand to get the soap out and you can keep one hand on the baby.  i loved the soapy cloths when they were first born but definitely a luxury.

lotion – luxury.  but one i still indulge in.  i like the off-brand pink kind.  again, just my preference.

nasal bulb – the best you can find come from the hospital.  they just work better than any on the market.  keep it and wash it.  you’ll use it for a long time to come.

gas drops (mylicon) - have them in your bag from day one.  if it’s not colic and it really is gas – then these are a miracle and you can safely use them from day one.  get the equate.  same stuff, much cheaper.

infant tylenol (not ibuprofen) – also put in your bag from the very beginning.  they’ll tell you to give them to them when they have their first shots.  again, buy equate.

wet wipes – (there are some at the hospital – they’ll let you take them home) my favs for newborns are thenewborn kind.  they really are softer.  and it really does matter early on.  then i moved to the cheapest.  my favorites are still the “pop-up” kind and you can now get the off-brand kind at target in bulk.  my oldest had such sensitive skin that any kind made his rash worse and for a while i made my own out of bounty papertowels and either plain water or water mixed with a little of his baby wash.

wet wipe containers – didn’t really use the warmer we got.  it dried them out and was just more trouble than it was worth.  and, really, a little cold to the bottom isn’t killing anybody.  carry containers – i never could keep up with them and they dried out my wipes in the summer time.  i always use gallon sized ziplocks.  throw in a whole refill pack and you’re good to go for quite a while.

diaper rash creams – as i said before my oldest had such sensitive skin that he would end up bleeding with a rash in no time.  all the time.  we used prescription.  until i found lantiseptic.  miracle.  and one tub will last for ever.  i bought one with my first and i’m still using it 4 babies later.  i only use it when the rash is severe.  or on its way to severe.  the other stuff i just didn’t find effective.  and i liked the lanolin base of lantiseptic.

a hat – they’ll give you one, but you can bring a matching one if you like.

shoes aren’t really necessary until they walk.  my youngest is 8 months old and i just started putting the one pair we have on him.  for looks.  as they get bigger they’ll just kick off socks and shoes and you’ll find yourself increasingly frustrated.  just opt for footed jammies.  if it’s really cold put socks on under the jammies.  i will say, i have heard that bobux (that you can now find at target) are great.  i’ve asked for some for christmas and i’ll review them when we start using them.

you don’t really need a changing table – but if you’re going for the whole nursery thing at least get a good mat (we loved our curved changing table mat) for the top of a dresser.  we just use the bed most of the time.  but when we had one baby and an adorable nursery we used ours always.  it is great for the back when your fresh from the hospital.

diaper genie – we had one with our first.  and we had the newer version this time.  they’re pretty great at first when the poopie stink isn’t so strong.  but they get expensive.  they’re a pain to clean.  and eventually you want that stink to not be there.  every mom i know that’s been around the block says skip on this one, but it’s up to you.  if you think you really want one – borrow or buy from a garage sale – you won’t be out much if you discard it later.

we’ve always loved our pack-n-play.  enough so that when ours broke after 3 children just before the last one was born we went and bought a brand new one.  i used the changing table bassinet combo for all of them. and then still used the playpen for almost 2 years  with each.  we got the eddie bauer this time and a really cheapie graco the first time.  both served their purpose.  but the cheaper was harder to pack up.  so my advice on this one – if you’re going to use it like we do – everyday for 2 years – go large.  buy expensive – you won’t regret it later.

highchair or booster seat.  you’ll need this as they near 6 months.  i’ve used a million different versions and they all were fine.  i’m just not picky on this one.  my favorite was the least changeable.  i loved my wooden old fashioned high-chair.  didn’t recline, didn’t change positions didn’t do anything other than hold baby at the table.  but it sure did look cool.  and when baby furniture becomes part of your decor – your going to want it to blend or be able to get out of the way easily.  and the those big monster ones just didn’t do either.

ergo – absolutely.  can’t say this enough.  i don’t care how much money you don’t have – beg, borrow, steal.  i wish i’d had it from the first child.  and i had baby bjorn.  not the same.  must get the real deal.  today.  do not delay.  i even put my 4 year old in it the other day at the zoo just for kicks and to see if you really could carry what they say you can carry in it.  indeed, you can.  i laughed hysterically, but it is possible.  have more than gotten my money out of it. and still don’t go anywhere without it.

just a couple infant toys.  they won’t care until they’re close to 6 months.  the rattlers are too hard when they don’t have hand control and they’ll just bonk themselves.  a couple of mine teethed so early that they couldn’t hold their own teethers so they were useless.  i just gave them my fingers.  i did always like thosesoft mirrors made for babies.  i haven’t seen a baby yet that hasn’t loved it.

blankets.  my favs were from the hospital.  just the right thickness.  big enough to actually swaddle them. and my friend swears by this swaddler blanket.  if i’d known about it in time, i’d definitely have tried it.

a large waterproof mat.  you’ll use it into the toddler years.  and you’ll wish every surface of your home was covered in this.

strollers – you don’t really need the big combo thing.  use the ergo and you’ll love life so much more.  when they can sit up i love my umbrella stroller.  i got one like this for 5 bucks at a garage sale.  love it.  love how it covers them.  has a basket.  folds.  is easy to push and fits through small spaces, like when you go mall shopping.

a medicine dropper.

a thermometer – i’ve tried most out there.  don’t go glass – the small chance it could break and it’s just plain hard to read in the middle of the night.  tried an ear one.  wasn’t nearly as reliable or easy as the plain old battery ones.  get one with a lighted screen for those middle of the night checks.

the play mats are good, but luxuries.  i wanted a bumbo this time around, but didn’t get one, so obviously a luxury, but one i wanted nonetheless!  the one item i didn’t have this time that i regret and would recommend time and again is the exersaucer.  indispensible.  you can use them from about 4 months to about nine months.  i used mine with the first 3 for longer than that.  much longer.  and even when they could walk they loved to play with it from the outside.  gives you the break you’ll need when you have to run the trash out, do dishes, get a shower, cook, and on and on.

a baby bath -  go as big or as cheap as you like.  i had one that was given to me while i was pregnant with my first and used it all the way through.  when they weren’t big enough to control their movement i put a folded towel in it to soften and mold to their bodies.  but now they have things made just for that.  it’s up to you.

get q-tips and alcohol for that belly-button cord.

get lansinoh lanolin and lansinoh nursing pads – if you plan to nurse (which you should unless you medically can’t!  ;)  )  these were my favs.  (the hospital will give you lanolin usually.)  get a pump.  a hand-held one if you don’t plan to work – get this if you do.  i had one because i had major issues with my second and was determined to nurse through them.  get some good bottles – i have nothing to offer on this.  i never used them.  anyone?  anyone?  you are going to want the hand-held pump even if you don’t pump to bottle feed.  you will get engorged.  you will want comfort.  anyone on the brand?  anyone?  also, call your hospital ahead of time and ask if they have hydra-gels.  if they don’t, go to little rock to expressly for you at baptist and get some.  go to the this part of the site and scroll down to ameda comfort gel pads.  the hospital used them for burn patients and discovered that they ease the pain of early nursing greatly and if you happen to have open sores from early difficulty with nursing they heal them in half the time.  get them.  track them down.  you’ll love them.  also, get a nursing sleep bra like the fancee free one at the store site.  expressly for you has them.  i loved the cotton ones.  buy at least 2 and take them with you to the hospital.  you’ll never want to go back to real bras!

i’m sure i’ll remember more later.  and i’ll follow up with a post about when i did what with what product.  i love to answer questions of just how we do it.  so please ask.  and i love even more, getting good tips from those who’ve been there.  so please offer up!

so to recap:  you need lots of love, a little soap, mega amounts of patience (or at least the desire for it), some sort of diapers, each other, a car seat, a little bit of mercy on yourself and well-meaning others, a lot for grace for one another, a way to feed her, and a mentor you can rely on.

Wassail

September 28th, 2009

How about a recipe this morning that’s as wonderful as the weather?

was⋅sail  

Pronunciation [wos-uhl]
–noun

1. a salutation wishing health to a person, used in England in early times when presenting a cup of drink or when drinking to the person.
2. a festivity or revel with drinking of healths.

I have a friend who’s mom started a tradition in our house years ago.  Wassail.  A seasonal drink that tastes as great as it smells and is perfect for Christmastime.  And fall.  Made for this time of year when the weather turns cooler alongside the changing of the leaves. 

This morning I only wish I had the ingredients at the ready to serve to all my littles and the smells to waft through the house while the wind blows through my open windows.

• 2 quarts apple juice
• 2 1/4 quarts pineapple juice
• 2 cups orange juice
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp. whole cloves

Put all ingredients into a stockpot.  Bring to a boil, then cover.  Simmer covered 30 minutes.  Uncover, continue to simmer 20 minutes.  Take out cinnamon and cloves.  Serve hot.

This makes a large amount – just right for inviting friends over or taking to a get-together.  This can be made in the crockpot, as well.  I usually have leftover wassail that I pour into a pitcher, refrigerate, and serve by the cup full over the next week.

May you enjoy this drink as much as I do.  And please, tell me what your favorite cool weather drink is!