This really grinds me...

I am not a crunchy mom, although I do have some crunchy tendencies and one is really starting to grind on me.  Rather, it is starting to grind on Ryann’s teeth.

When I was pregnant with Ryann, Matt’s big thing was that NO KIDS were to be in OUR BED, and I agreed.  So now we have two kids in our bed[1].  Ryann sleeps between us and Matthew sleeps on the side of me where the co-sleeper is located.  Not in the co-sleeper though, because one of the perks of nursing him is that I don’t have to even fully wake up to feed him-and if he was in the co-sleeper I would have to pick him up to put him next to me.  Sounds like too much work at 3 a.m.

So we have a beautiful nursery and toddler room that are hardly[2] used and a king-sized bed that is filled to the brim.  We were all sleeping wonderfully[3] until three nights ago when we woke up to the sound of Ryann’s teeth grinding together.  Which, by the way, is the WORST SOUND IN THE WORLD. 

Matt and I tried to wake her up, but short of a bucket of water on her head, it is pretty impossible, and we don’t want her SO awake that she won’t go back to sleep.  Matt tried to pry her mouth open and place[4] her pacifier in her mouth, but her jaw is all locked up.  Even if we do get her awake enough to respond to us, she is back asleep and grinding again before I can fall back asleep.

Although I have tried explaining to her during the day the importance of not grinding her teeth together at night, she doesn’t seem to be grasping the concept.  According the internet, the problem will either resolve itself when she gets adult teeth, or she can get a bite plate when she is 6-I hope she is not still in bed with us by then.[5]

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[1] Don’t judge me.

[2] never

[3] Despite Ryann always trying to “kick” us awake

[4] shove

[5] Although I have pointed out that we could easily fit a twin bed next to the king-sized bed for Matt ;)

I'm not pregnant, I'm fat.

I “officially” go back to work the Tuesday after Labor Day, although fellow teachers know I have been doing work for the past two weeks.  I wonder if any of my co-workers have noticed that I have been wearing the same four[1] pairs of pants[2]?

I REALLY don’t want to be wearing maternity clothes next week, but I can’t afford to spend tons of money on clothes that will fit me now but hopefully be too big in a few months.

I seem to remember losing weight after my daughter being a lot easier even though I gained 50 pounds[3] with both children.  I also had the support of my best friend who joined Weight Watchers with me and even GAINED weight while attending the meetings so that I could feel better about all the weight I was losing. (Thanks for the support Sarah).  However, she had the AUDACITY to LOSE weight while I was pregnant, and she looks better than ever. I don’t think I can talk her into joining Weight Watchers and putting it back on.

I know I should lose the weight by “chasing 2 kids around”[4] and tons of people will praise the “eating less, moving more” philosophy, which I still haven’t totally bought into.  Either way, I have got to get serious while I am still exercising[5] so that I am not still in maternity pants when I get pregnant with #3.  Guess that alfredo sauce at Sibley’s last night was not my BEST choice…

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[1] two

[2] And that they are maternity pants?

[3] 70

[4] Bullshit.

[5] nursing

Karma

Yesterday was a great day. I had my 9 year-old cousin Agata for the day and I took her and my two to the Toledo Zoo. The nice thing about having her come around is that Agata is young enough to enjoy the zoo, but old enough to buddy up with Ryann and keep her out of trouble if I needed to tend to (nurse/change) Matthew.


We did our obligatory stop at the gift shop on the way out so Agata could do her best to spend every penny in her purse and at the counter they asked if I wanted to donate $1 to one of their animals. I said yes and we picked the polar bear (Agata's favorite). If I had my way I would have picked a less liked animal since chances are they really needed the money. (Sorry, Sloth Bear, you are hideous).

On the way home, Agata asked me why they asked for a dollar when I checked out and I explained that they were taking donations towards the animals and I always give when I can because if you do good things, good things happen to you. She COULDN'T just let it go at that. She asks "is that true?"


So here I am trying to navigate through Toledo and explain to her that I am not sure if it is true or not, because sometimes good things happen to bad people (i.e. Spencer Pratt making tons on "The Hills") and also sometimes bad things happen to good people (the last year has been pretty tough in our house, and we consider ourselves good people). After finally talking in circles I eventually shut up and she seemed pleased with the answer, or sick of hearing me talk. Either way, she didn't ask for any further explanation so I think I did okay.


Do you think what they say about karma is true? Does what goes around come around?

It's time to get it together.

The last few weeks of summer vacation are here and this one is bittersweet as I am returning to work after being laid off for 15 months.  I am happy to be returning to work but so sad about leaving my babies in the care of someone else while I am watching other people's babies (in the form of seventh graders).

My pledge to my children (namely just Ryann as she is the only one who knows what is going on) is that I will take them out and do something fun with them every day for the next two weeks.  After that I am not sure what my work schedule will be like, but we are going to suck as much fun as we can out of our last few weeks of being a stay-at-home mom.  Now, getting out of the house is the hard part.  The easy part is finding fun things to do every day (Ryann loves Target as much as I do so she is easy to please).  

Today we went with my nine year old cousin to Funtastic in Woodhaven.  This worked out great for me because Funtastic is for children under 8, but children over 8 can accompany a younger child as the "caregiver" as long as they are playing with the little kid, they are good.  So I piled my kids and Agata in the car and we headed over to Funtastic.  I only had to pay for admission for Ryann as she was the only one actually playing, and Matthew and I secured a table off to the side so I could work on my educational summer reading list.[1]

We spent two hours there and Ryann had a blast[2] and I got to sit and cuddle the baby[3] without feeling guilty about not paying enough attention to Ryann.  The food was reasonable priced and the facility was clean.  On tomorrow’s agenda?  Horseback[4] riding at Elizabeth Park without the aid of a nine year old.  Should be interesting…

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[1] L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad

[2] Despite repeated attempts to kill herself by jumping off platforms onto the padded play floor.

[3] Watch him sleep in the carseat

[4] Pony

Look who got a job!

So, I was offered a job for the fall!  YAY!  Hubby and I may be able to dig ourself out of a financial hole in time for my student loans to come out of deferment!

Of course, being the worrier that I am (thanks mom) the excitement over finding employment has been replaced with panic over what I will do with my children.  I estimate that I will probably have to start doing things for work in about 2-3 weeks, when Matthew will be about 5-6 weeks old.  UGH.

I had great childcare for Ryann-my best friend's sister watched her and I knew I was leaving her in good hands.  However, Ryann was over 4 months old when she started with daycare.  I felt she was on a good schedule and would benefit from being around other babies (one of which is her bff).  Matthew is going to be such a little little thing, and I can't imagine the stress that will be involved with having a new job, getting up way earlier than usual, and getting two children dressed and out the door.  So for the next 2-3 weeks I am on a mission:  get someone to watch the kids at our house every day until December.

Now, financially, in-home day care is not a cheap option.  (At least, having them come to your house) but I have a secret weapon:  THREE retired grandparents.  If I can get them to come 2-3 days a week, then I only have to pay someone 2-3 days a week and I can pay a little extra to make it worth their while (and hopefully entice them away from watching Lifetime while the kids are propped up next to them in dirty diapers chewing on burp rags).

I am wondering, besides paying a little more (and a kick-butt teacher schedule), what other benefits can you offer someone that comes to your house to watch your children?