I cannot believe my last post was March 2012

    And I cannot believe it discussed procreation. And a desire for #2. And how ready I thought I was.

    Because #2 is showing up any day now. Apparently I did not think pregnancy was worth blogging about. Regardless, our family is expanding very shortly. I was ready at conception. I thought I was ready if you would have asked me in July or October. But now? HAHA. Nick, Alexis, and I have such a beautiful rhythm  in our lives right now. It is a struggle to think how we will adjust to a new little one. I know we will but I am going to have to live it to truly believe it. 

    This pregnancy was challenging. From the get-go, it was not as simple as my first one. I felt off much of the summer and never completely comfortable in my skin. Then I way overdid it physically on a vacation right around 20 weeks and landed myself on bedrest with a cervical stitch for 15 weeks. 15 weeks! With a preschooler at home. And a husband who works long hours. Luckily, everything with the baby is fantastic. He (yes, HE) has baked to completion and is now just waiting to pull the rip cord. 

    I wish he would have told me this past Autumn to not worry, he's not coming out. It would be lovely if babies in utero could communicate and tell us when to panic and when to just go with the flow. Actually, it would be nice if babies not in utero would do that as well! Interpreting baby noises, grunts, cries, and facial expressions is in my very near future. 

    Maybe my 4 year old will be able to interpret for me.

Ready for #2

  Well, I am ready. If other parents can handle the crazy pressure of adding to their brood then I can too. I mean we. We. Have I mentioned that my husband is not emotionally on board yet? One of my friends recommended just going for it and explaining it later. Something about that seems dishonest. And dishonesty is not how a child should be brought into the world. Right?

 
  Part of me is ready for deception. I don't know why I suddenly want to double my workload. Let's face it, that is precisely what I will be doing. As good a baby as Alexis was, I am out of the baby mode completely. No waking up through the night, no trying new foods slowly on Allergy Watch, no stroller bound outings, no crying only communication. You get the idea.

  Instead, I am basking in 3 year old grandeur. Shouting matches, power struggles, endless repititon, loud voices, and daily accidental suicide prevention. Why would I want to add a sibling into that mix?

  This is why.

  

  I am ready to do it again. And how much more fun to watch my older child embrace and grow with her new sibling. There is a lot of fun ahead!

Can You Be Too Hands On?

 No, I am clearly not talking about me. I tell Alexis to "try doing it yourself" and "just a minute, I have to finish this first" way too many times in a day. That topic can be a guilt-ridden post for another day. The completely hands-off moms are also a topic for another day (get off your iPhone and talk to your kid for one second! Didn't you choose to stay home and raise your child?). Today I have to discuss the too hands-on moms at the park. I have seen things of this nature many times, but I saw a ridiculous mother the other day that actually inspired this blog post. Perhaps the term ridiculous is too harsh, but I am rarely accused of mincing my words and being too gentle.

 I am all about talking with your children and having fun with them and being a part of the activities, as opposed to just sitting on the sides with coffee and another mom all day every day. But it is okay to let your kid do a little exploring and playing and doing on his own. Please stop following your 3-year old around the entire park with your hands outstretched like he is going to break his neck with every step. Please stop encouraging him to go interact with every new kid that comes to the playground. Please stop putting him into and taking him out of the swing every 3 minutes. Please stop chattering at him about everything he sees, hears, and feels. And most of all, when having a conversation with another adult who is at the bottom of the climbing wall, please don't sprint away in mid-sentence because your preschooler is about to come down the slide and you aren't waiting at the bottom with a huge smile and an encouraging "good for you, Logan!".

 He is 3 years old and will be in school in 2 years. How can he ever make friends with your incessant hovering and meddling? He might fall. He will get up and try again. He may get turned away by a peer who doesn't want to play with him. Wipe off his tears, give him a hug, and send him back out there. When he fails a test, it is him who needs to study harder next time, not you. When he gets dumped by a girlfriend, it is him who will have to mend his broken heart and ego, not you. When he doesn't make the Varsity football team, it is him who will have to find another activity to fill his Autumn, not you. Relax a little, mom.

 As parents, we need to be our child's advisory council, therapist, nurse, tutor, nutritionist, coach, and cheerleader. Most importantly, we need to figure out how to always let our children know we love them no matter how much they fail, fall, or disappoint. We need to dispense hugs and kind words, but withhold the judgement. We need to discipline, but not punish. We need to let them live their lives and help them when they need it and ask for it. This starts by letting the toddler wear whatever garish outfit she picks out before heading to the grocery store. And allowing the Kindergartner to try ice skating even though he is the klutziest kid in the history of the world. And letting your 9 year old go to that first sleepover, even though you are pretty sure she will call you at 11pm crying and wanting to come home. And encouraging your Freshman in high school to try whatever extracurricular they are interested in, even though you know he will never make the final cut for the musical since he cannot carry a tune.

 Let the freedom begin at the playground. Let your child go and play. Of course interact with him some of the time, but also let him just be. He will be okay entertaining himself and figuring out how to fill his time at the park. He knows you are over there loving him the whole time. And because you already enjoy playing with him, he also knows he has someone to eat his pretend cookies when he is ready to take them out of his toy oven.

Daddy Has Returned--Blessing or Curse?

 I realize I have not been blogging much since Nick left his old job, took a week off, and began his new job with much better hours. It is like I actually have a life again and am busy living it instead of writing about it. However, did I mention that my husband is now home all the time? Okay, perhaps only weekends, every other Friday, and by 6:30 during the week, but it feels like all the time. My kingdom is being disrupted.

 I missed dual parenting and having someone else around to laugh with when our kid does something ridiculous. I missed being able to make plans with other couples. I missed watching Gopher basketball, Twins baseball, and Packer football with another rabid fan (sports are just not as much fun on your own!). I have my partner and best friend back. I have Alexis's father back. I have someone to help with chores and do man-jobs around the house.*

 But. There's always a "but". I have to give up control now. I no longer make all the decisions about outings, schedules, TV watching, food, etc. There is another adult in the house who has an opinion! No one warned me that it would take me longer to adjust to a positive change like this. I was fed up with solo parenting and making all the decisions. However, being judge and jury, while exhausting, is also quite a strong feeling of power not easily relinquished. Furthermore, when the child was in bed, the house was mine. Mine to do anything I wanted. I could enjoy the quiet or listen to music loudly. I could make whatever vegetable and flaxseed dish I wanted for dinner and eat when I wanted. I could go to bed at 8:30 without so much as a sarcastic comment about how lame I was. That part was kind of nice.

 That being said, I wouldn't go back. I am enjoying having Nick home, able to watch Alexis as she is right now. Not looking at pictures and hearing stories of our adventures, but being a part of them. Living with us as a husband and father, not just as the guy who funds our house and bills. I may not have the time to blog as much about my days but that is because there is a wonderful man in the house making me laugh, occasionally making dinner, and even changing a few diapers. My husband is back and I love it.

*Nick removed the old and installed the new over-the-range microwave and lifted and cleaned our moldy bathroom flooring all in one weekend.

Pumpkin--The New Superfood?

  It is that time of year; I am becoming obsessed with pumpkin. One half-cup serving of pureed pumpkin has only 40 calories, ½ g of fat, 4g net carbs, and 2g of protein. Who can’t benefit from adding 5g of fiber to their diet? It should be considered one of the superfoods! I am experimenting with recipes and seeing what will benefit from the addition of pumpkin.

  I make my own pumpkin café au laits, pumpkin cream cheese, and pumpkin smoothies. I add it to plain hummus and mashed potatoes. But the most creative place I have used it is in chili. Seriously! Using a 3:1:½ ratio, take your basic homemade chili and add pumpkin puree and chopped green chilies. It adds health benefits and richness to a cool-weather staple.

  And for anyone with children who need a nutrition boost in their diets, try adding pumpkin to oatmeal or pancakes. If you have a child that will falter at the thought of pumpkin, you can try to hide it in basic tomato sauces or use it in the cooking water next time you make rice. Alexis actually eats pumpkin puree by itself with a spoon. I stir in a little agave nectar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger and she chows down.

  The following recipe for Pumpkin Pancakes comes from Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on The Food Network.

Pumpkin Pancakes

  The other idea is to use pumpkin in a much more classic way, such as in a dessert. Nothing beats autumnal treats as Halloween and Thanksgiving creep closer. The following recipe is for pumpkin cookies.

Pumpkin Cookies

  Of note, when I make these cookies, I make it a generous ¾ c of pumpkin and I omit the raisins in favor of chopped walnuts.

  Happy pumpkin eating!

A Magic Moment

The following moment occurred while we were on vacation. Alexis is quite a spitfire. Like most toddlers, she is constantly going, going, gone. Add a fun new location to the mix and we had a little tornado on our hands! However, on our last day in San Francisco, we went down to the waterfront and Alexis played in the sand. She was calm, tranquil, and happy while she watched a ship in the port. It was impossible not to watch her, completely mesmerized. It was magical.

This is my link-up for Shell's My Magic Moment.

Suburban Hell--Keeping Up With the Joneses

  I am not immune. I find myself constantly noting where Alexis falls on her age scale. Is she big enough? No. Is she verbal enough? Yes, she could give grade-schoolers a run for their money. Is she coordinated enough? No, total klutz (Nick's genes). Is she artistic? Musical? Competitive?

  I heard it at the park the other day when I was chatting with a couple other moms about preschool. Mom A was discussing the advantages of a $395/week Montessori over a "cheap" daycare with a curriculum. I am pretty sure cheap is still around $200/week. She was talking about how she felt totally uncomfortable even walking around the daycare, in fact, I believe her actual phrase was "I wanted to shower as soon as I got home" followed by peals of giggles. When Mom A made that remark I glanced at Mom B assuming she would mirror my slight horror at what was just said, but she was laughing too. Mom B responds with "I don't even know why lower income kids bother with preschool. They will be behind in school anyway." Why am I talking with these women?!? Oh, and for the record, I was at a park in a wealthy suburb where there really aren't any low income kids and the daycare is likely more immaculate than my house. Wait, that doesn't say a whole lot. Well, either way, by no means is the daycare filthy, gross, or unhygienic. And I bet it has the same educational standards at the Montessori school down the street.

  Anyway, this conversation continued with both mothers comparing their preschoolers. They asked how old my daughter is and when I said "She is only two and a half, so no preschool for us yet! We are just doing ECFE once a week", I was promptly mentally dismissed. How tragic. I stayed to listen though because I couldn't believe how arrogant these two women actually were, essentially just because their husbands make a lot of money which affords them luxuries others aren't privy to.

  This was the conversation, with some mild paraphrasing due to the fact I am not a journalist and don't own one of those nifty recorders.

Mother A: "Bella actually counts up to 2 now. I could just listen to her all day counting her dollies, 1-2."

Mother B: "That is so precious! Eddy won't count. It might bore him. He is much more physically active. He tries so hard to tie his shoes like his older brother, but they are velcro!"

A: "How adorable! I am sure Bella could tie her shoes if we were working on that. But we are encouraging her to follow her interests. She could play with her dollies all day. Just counting them. We should get her more dollies so we can hear her count higher! Does Eddy say his alphabet yet?"

B: "Yes of course. He almost writes his name too! It looks a little like squiggles but he knows what he is trying to write."

A: "My Bella just won't sit long enough to learn to write. I bet she could write her name if she had more focus. But if she is not a focused kid, then we will just learn to deal with that. We are very loose in our house, we give Bella her freedom. That is why she needs Montessori. They can help her focus."

  I could go on and on because this inane conversation went on and on. Mercifully, Alexis came over shortly after and asked to swing. In fact, she said quite clearly in her piping little voice "Mom, can you push me on the baby swing?" She is very articulate and I love that I can communicate so clearly with her (and have been able to do so for months!).

  Yes, she now calls me Mom and yes, I can brag too.