Love to be mommy (sometimes)

I really love being a mommy most of the time.  I say most of the time because my 6yr old Raegan has been a tough child.  She is stubborn and strong willed and emotional.  All of these things make me know she is going to be and awesome adult but as a mother dealing with a child like this it is really hard!  Take this morning for instance.  My alarm goes off at 7am and I go in to wake her up.  Meanwhile Ruby is rolling around sucking on her hands wanting to nurse.  So I go into Raegan's room and say, "hey baby, its time to wake up."  I get her an outfit to wear and lay it on her bed and tell her to get dressed while I nurse Ruby.  At 6yrs old I don't think it is to much to ask for her to get herself up and dressed.  Well apparently I'm wrong!  Because instead of getting dressed while I'm nursing the baby she is in her room screaming and yelling and whining about how she "can't" get up and she "can't" get dressed.  So I say, "If you aren't dressed by the time I'm done nursing the baby you will have 1 screen time taken away".

Let me digress and tell you about screen time.  Raegan is a TV junkie.  She has been her whole little life.  And while I realise that is my fault I also plan on fixing it before its to late and I end up with a loser, fat, TV kid.  So I have changed the rules and we now get only 2 hours of screen time a day.  That can be used for 4 half hour shows, 1 movie, computer time or a mix match of computer and TV.  She hates this and has been bucking the system every day but in a way this makes me know that I am doing the right thing.  Because if it is that traumatic to her to only have 2 hours of screen time a day then there was a problem.  Being that she is 6yrs old she looks at her 2 hours as 4 shows.  Even if that is not how she uses it, her brain translates it that way.

So back to this morning.   When I say to her that she will have screen time taken away if she is not dressed by the time I'm done, she starts wailing!  Stomping and crying and throwing herself on her bed.  The works!  I then say, " You now have 1 screen time taken away for your behavior.  Please get dressed and stop screaming or more will be taken away."  At this point silence for 10min.  I'm crossing my fingers as I finish nursing Ruby that Raegan has gotten dressed.   But oh no!  When I go into her room she is just sitting on her bed with her arms crossed, face red from crying and in her panties only.  Inside I scream!  Outwardly I say calmly, "Raegan you now have 2 screen times taken away. 1 for your behavior and 1 for not doing what I asked of you.  Do you remember what I asked you to do?"  She starts screaming and throws herself to the floor.  I calmly repeat, "Do you remember what I asked of you?"  "YES!!", she screams.  "What did I ask?", I say.  And then add, "please lower your voice and speak to me kindly as I am speaking to you".  "TO GET DRESSED!  BUT I WANT MY SCREEN TIME BACK!!!", she screams at me.  All the while not getting dressed and continuing to throw herself around the floor.  I then say to her, "Mommy is loosing her patience, you need to stop screaming and stand up and get dressed right now!"  At this point she can only focus on her lost screen time.  So I say, "If you straighten up your behavior right now and turn this morning around by not yelling anymore and getting dressed you may be able to earn back your screen time 1 at a time."  She stops screaming but stands there looking at me.  I say, "Can you get dressed please?"  She begins to put her pants on.  But this then turns into a big ordeal because she is convinced she just does not like how they feel.  So the screaming ensues.  I say to her 3 times to go ahead and take the pants off and I will give her another pair.  But does she hear me?  I don't know!  All I do know is that she continues to flail around on the floor screaming about the pants.  So I say, "1....2.....3"  Slowly of course giving her time in between each number to respond.  But still no response just screaming and flailing. Then I say, "Your will no longer be able to earn back your screen time today because of your attitude and behavior."   Well this gets her attention.  Not the desired effect, because the screaming goes up a pitch if that is at all possible.  However, she at least heard me.
Eventually, through all of the tears and screams and kicks and flails, her clothes somehow make it onto her little body and we are on our way to the dinning room for breakfast.  She chooses to have toast with Nutella on it.  This is a favorite of hers.  I offer to read her a book while she eats.  I'm hoping that it will change the mood and get her mind off of the lost screen time and the previous disaster.  Reading to her works and I only have to remind her to eat about 10 times instead of 50. 
I am not at all looking forward to her return from school.  She will ask for her screen time and I will be forced to stick to my guns and only give her 1hr or 2 shows as she puts it.  I pray that the battle of wills won't be as bad as I anticipate. 
I know that later in life this strong willed child will go far.  She has so much potential and vivacity.  But being the parent to her and trying it teach her how to rain in the emotions and use her powers for good is SO hard!  Gosh I love this kid and I love being her mommy but it just might kill me LOL!  And now I'm starting all over with Ruby.  I hope its a little smoother with her.  Or is that asking to much?

I don't like no school days

Raegan is off school today for MLK day and she is going bazerk in the house.  It cold out so I don't really want to go outside but I think I am going to have to be creative and find something for her to do.  Last week we had 2 snow delays and because she is morning kindergarten she had no school.  The snow days were Wed. and Thurs.  and she drove me nuts both days.  She just has so much energy.  And the kid never stops talking, never.  She is such a drama queen.  The child sings and dances and acts and talks the Entire day.  Tommy says she gets it from me, but there is no way that I am so over the top.  When she was a newborn I read somewhere that it was good for a baby's development to talk and sing to them a lot.  Well I did and now I'm being punished because now that's how she is all the time :) 
After the two snow days last week she had school one day and that was Friday and then the weekend, the dreaded weekend.  I remember before kids I used to look forward to the weekend.  Now its the hell between school days that I have to try and do everything I usually do around the house just now I have to do it while tripping over a needy 6yr old.  And now its MLK day.  To top it all off, tomorrow is in service day and the kids are out of school again.  I swear the school is trying to punish me.  I know it must sound like I don't enjoy Raegan.  That really is not it at all.  I love her to death and think she is an amazing little girl.  But she is very smart and has tons and tons of energy and without school she is like a tightly wound spring.  So I really don't like no school days!  In a total of 7 days she will have gone to school 1 of those days, so you can only imagine how wound up she is. 
To top it all off I still feel like crud.  This cold/flu thing is really kicking my butt.  I'm up all through the night blowing my nose and coughing.  Then it feels like as soon as I fall asleep comfortably the baby wakes up and needs me to nurse her.  I really love nursing though.  Nursing Ruby is such a fantastic experience.  I missed out on that with Raegan for a variety of reasons and still feel extreme sadness about it.  Missing out on nursing with Raegan makes being able to nurse Ruby all that much more special.  Holding her warm little body and snuggling her while she is being nourished from my body is so amazing.  Not to mention watching her grow and be healthy gives me such a sense of accomplishment.  And grow she is!  Ruby is 3mo old tomorrow and she is over 15lbs.  Such a big baby!  Raegan was so tiny.  She was probably around 15lbs at 6mo old.  Having such a big baby is a new experience in itself.  But I tell ya, I think I like it better.  Ruby is more solid and I'm not always worried about her being fragile.  That sense of security could also be because she is my second baby but her size plays a big role as well.  Ruby has really renewed my love of being a mom again.  She is an excellent baby and I am truly blessed for that.  It makes me a bit nostalgic knowing she will be my last as Tommy is scheduled for a vasectomy on Feb. 4th.  I think I'm more nervous for him than he is.

Thank goodness for my Girasol Felice wrap

Everyone in our house has a crappy cold.  We all have the snuffly, achy, throat hurty yuck.  But even while I feel like I have been run over by a truck the girls still need mommy, the dishes still need done and the laundry still needs washed.  This is where baby wearing comes in handy.  Ruby has been a bear the last couple of days because she isn't feeling very well.  So when she is fussy and things need done, I pop her in the wrap and I'm able to do almost everything I need to.  Today I went to the laundry mat.  I wrapped her in a kangaroo carry and did all the laundry with her like that.  My wrap works well for nursing.  While I can't nurse her in the wrap because I am nursing challenged, I wad it up on my lap and use it as a pillow.  It was fantastic!  She loves the wrap so much that she was immediately cozy with her little face on it.  I have got to learn to back wrap better.  Getting laundry out of a humongous front loader and into the dryer and then out of the dryer and folding it is a task when you are looking over the head of a baby.  Now let me clarify it is still easier than listening to her scream while I'm doing it.   
Last night we had some friends over for dinner.  It was so much fun.  I made homemade Pad Tia for dinner.  It tasted great!  I forgot the rice noodles in the hot water for to long though and it was more like Pad Mush but the flavor was fantastic.  We played some games dinner and Felice was a life saver.  I was able to sooth a fussy baby and play games with my friends at the same time.  Yeah, I'm a bit obsessed with this wrap.  But it truly makes my life so much easier.  And Ruby loves it to.  She will actually cry if I have to adjust it because she thinks I'm going to put her down.  Its really cute.  As soon as I re tie it she stops crying.
Tommy is going to have a fit though if I keep buying wraps.  So I have decided to pick three and sell the rest.  Boo.   But I guess I'll try and be a good wife and make my hubby happy since he totally supports me on lots of things.  Plus I'm pretty hormonal right now since I'm post partum and may feel a bit more "in need" of more wraps than really necessary.  But if you ask some of the sweet mama's I have met on the baby wearing sites with monstrous stashes they would beg to differ.  But my new goal right now is to get my pay pal zeroed out.  Why do they give me credit, ahhhh, it makes it so hard to resist all the pretty wraps. 
So in a prior post I talked about my lovely lady wrap Marigold.  Well I traded her tonight for a Girasol Big Sur.  I hope I love it and I don't get sad about loosing Mari.  I'm excited and nervous at the same time.  I will definitely let you all know how the new wrap is when I get it.

Mommy your to big and to old

Today I desided to get little Ruby one of those bumbo seats.  You know the ones, big giant rubber seat that you sit a baby in.  They are so weird and I said I wasn't going  to be one of those moms that puts their baby in a bumbo seat.  Yeah, um well, I am.  I gave in, I sold out.  I got a bumbo.  And do you know... it is awesome!  I even got the little tray that you put on it for toys and stuff.  Wow, how did I ever mother Raegan as a baby with out this.  There are so many things that I wish I had known about or that did not exist with Raegan that I get to try with Ruby.  But its funny because I like to think of myself as a more natural style mama until I try something like this and then Im hooked.  I guess there is nothing natural about a giant rubber seat that you put baby in for a few months then get rid of. 
And where to I go to get said bumbo seat?  At one of the most un natural places on the planet, Wal-mart.  Go ahead, say it, bad mommy, bad.  I packed up the girls and headed out.  At least my Toyota Corrolla is a pretty environmentally friendly car, rolling in at 30 mpg.  Oh yeah! Makin' up for at least a little!  Anyway, I packed up the girls and off to Wally World we go.  When we got out of the car I grabbed a cart and Raegan starts in with, "I wanna ride in the cart".  I said, "No, your to big", and the whine fest was on.  So instead of get mad I join in.  "I wanna ride in the cart", I whine.  "I don't wanna walk, nooooo faaaiiirrr" I protest!  And Raegan starts cracking up!  She sputters, "Mommy, your to old"!  So I crack up and pretend cry saying, "Boo hoo, Raegan says I'm to old"!  Then she says, "Well your not to old your to big"!  So we are laughing  so hard at this point and people are staring but I don't care.  And then she says, "Mommy, your to big and to old"!  Aww geez!  Im laughing but I'm realizing she's right.  I am to big and to old!  No more riding in carts for me. Crap!  Of course at this point my imagination runs away with me and I think that I should take a picture of my big, old butt in a wally world cart and post it on that web site called, People of Wal-mart.  And if you have never heard of or seen this site you MUST.  I will post a link to get you started.  Please beware, put your soda down before clicking the link because it will come out your nose.  Ok here it is! 
Now we are home and little Ruby is sitting in her big rubber chair chewing on her fingers, talking to her toys and mommy is happily sitting on the floor next to her blogging away, glad to have sold out to the bumbo and trying not to squirt soda out my nose looking at the pictures on People of Wal-mart site. 

Wanna be a baby wearer!

I just wanted to let anyone who read the last post and loved the carriers know of some awesome places to find excellent used carriers and wraps at great prices.  These are sites I use and are for the most part very user friendly and safe.  I highly recommend using pay pal to make purchases as well so that every thing and every one is kept accountable.
Baby center.com
The Baby wearer.com
Natural Mamas

Also any of the brand sites are great for new wraps and carriers but you will pay more :)

and lastly there are some other sites that are authorized dealers.  This is not a compete list but these are some very trusted places that have excellent feedback.
Granola babies
A piece of cloth
Pinkletink baby
Wear a baby

Please beware that there are some sites and people out there who are trying to take advantage of unknowing newbies in the baby wearing community, so please look for feedback before making a transaction at anytime.

Its all about the Wraps

So I found a new passion!  Wrapping/babywearing.  Ruby just loves it to!  She gets all giggly and smily when she see's me get a wrap out.  It is the absolute most comfortable and productive way to carry a baby around.  Tommy is not loving my new addiction.  But I have to add that the last two wraps I've gotten he smiled at pretty big and said that they were really pretty.  He even admitted that he was a bit jealous of Ruby since she gets to be all snuggled and close to me so often.  I thought that was cute.  Raegan has been asking if I will wear her and I think I will give it a shot in a back carry.  Why not?  She just wants to be a part of it to.
So my first wrap is Didymos, Marigold which is a linen/cotton blend.  It is gorgeous.  Pinky orange linen on one side woven with a golden yellow cotton on the other.  It is soft, supportive and not to hot when worn.  This was the first wrap I got and I am so glad that I made that choice.  It truely made me fall in love with wrapping because of the wonderfulness of the wrap.  Here is a picture:


Isnt is beautiful!

My second wrap is a Giralsol, Felice.  This is a cotton wrap.  This wrap is thicker and feels much more solid.  When wrapping with this wrap you can feel certian your wrap job is not going anywhere.  The colors are fabulous as well and I love the stripes.  This is a perfect winter time wrap because of how thick and warm it is.  Here is a picture of us when it first arrived, and my first ruck carry.



Love this wrap

Another carrier I love is my Comfy Joey ring sling.  This is a beautiful linen sling made entirely of linen.  It is so cool and comfortable.  It is a dream to wear because it is easy to adjust and very very supportive.  It is the only wrap that I can and have nursed in I might add.  Check us out:



And last but definatly not least, and a major favorite is my Freehand Mei tai carrier.  This is an Asian inspired carrier.  It is cotton and absolutly fabulous.  It is the Theresa print.  This carrier is a breeze to use with hardly any learning curve at all.  Saddly I don't currently have ant pictures of us because we are always out and about when I use it.  Because I love the mei tai and the wrap so much I wan't the best of both worlds, a wrap conversion!  This is a wrap that is converted into a mei tai style carrier but with wide straps that make it that much more comfortable, snuggly and just plain awesome!

I have to give tons of props to all the mama's at babycenter.com for helping me learn and love this wonderdul art of babywearing.

Keep the snow!

I'm not much of a winter person.  Let me clarify by saying that the cold weather does not really bother me its the snow.  I think that I could go the rest of my life without looking out the window at the snow.  Pictures are fine.  I'm an avid baby wearer.  This means I love to wear wraps and other carriers with my baby in them.  Its great for security and makes my life easier by being hands free.  But when it snows it makes it a real pain to babywear.  Putting a wrap on and off in the snow is hard because it gets wet and cold. 
Poor Raegan.  She loves winter and the snow.  She loves to play in the snow and I just don't.  The other day when it snowed she got all excited.  "Mommy can we go play in the snow!!"  I said that she could if she wanted.  And the poor kid got all dressed up in her snow gear and played in the snow all by herself.  I watched out the window feeling like a bad mom but still not willing to go out and get cold and wet.  I did however make homeade hot chocolate for her when she came in. 
Sleding looks fun... for other people lol.  I tried my hand at skiing when I was younger.  I ended up with a bruised butt and a bruised ego and spent half the day sitting in the lodge watching the other people ski.  It was a nice lodge though.  Warm and cozy with lots of good food and hot chocolate.
I'm babysitting today and its snowing like crazy.  Maybe I'll send the kids out to play.  :)

Its gonna be a long life.

So my husband Tommy and I have done everything in our lives the "wrong" way. We met in Albuquerque, NM in 2002 after both of us had done alot of traveling around the US.  I am originaly from Cincinnati, OH and ended up in NM on a road trip, but thats a story for another day.  We were 24 and it was my birthday.
 When we met I had just started college in New Mexico at the age of 24 and he was working at a company called KeyStone.  So we started dating right away and moved right in together. While this was fun at first we ended up fighting like cats and dogs for a long time.  We probably could have saved ourselves alot of greif had we gotten to know one another better, maybe dated a while first.  But it kinda goes along with the backwards thing, instead we moved right in together and then started getting to know one another which as you can imagine was a royal pain. 
As I said I was in college and so Tommy desided to go to college to.  Yeah, its the backwards thing yet again.  Instead of going to college out of high school we waited until we were in our mid 20's. 24 to be exact.   After only dating for 1yr and 1mo and both of us attending college for about that same amount of time, we got pregnant, this was 2004.  Yeah, did I mention doing things backwards.  Anyway, we continued college through my pregnancy and then I gave birth to our first daughter Raegan.  After her birth I quit school to stay at home and nurse her.  Tommy quit school to get a job.  Raegan was born on 9-12-04.
When Raegan was 10mo old we moved to Cincinnati, OH to be around my family and give it a go here.  We moved in August of 2005 and it was so hot and muggy and aweful.  We both got crap jobs and began making an attempt at life as new parents. 
Life went on like this until 2008 when I put my foot down and said, hey we have been together for a long time, have a child together and live like a married couple... lets get married.  Tommy agreed and we set a date for 10-10-09.  So our wedding was over 7yrs after starting our relationship together and 5yrs after the birth of our first daughter. 
True to our luck, right before our wedding both of us lost our jobs.  (Thanks alot economy)  We tried to stay positive and went ahead with the wedding.  After the wedding we both looked with no avail at finding jobs.  So we again decided to try and better our lives and go to college.  We started attending college in 2010.  Soon after I got pregnant with Ruby our second daughter.  I continued college through the pregnancy and am currently staying home to nurse.  Ruby was born on 10-18-10. 
Tommy is still in college and we hope he will graduate this summer.  Then maybe he can get a good job and we can get out of the ghetto apartment we live in and start a better life.
We do things backwards but we get them done.  We do things backwards but with any luck we will end up right side up.