I can't believe I'm a Stay at home mom

Toys, Toys, Toys

2008-11-10T09:51:00.000-08:00

I don't know about your kids but mine has the attention span of a hummingbird, flying around from toy to toy. I live just to step on, trip over, and pickup little blocks and musical instruments. My mother said she gave me a cardboard box and I was entertained for hours. My kid if I'm lucky she will play with it for ten minutes. I hope it has to do with intelligence; you know the more she plays the smarter she will be. Because we all know that sitting for hours playing with a cardboard box did not make a genius out of me.

2008-10-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

Well I know It has been a while since I have posted but I have been having trouble getting a doctor to treat my back injury. I went three months without any treatment and the pounds have just piled on. So now I have had the Epidural Steroid injection and I can tell it is doing something to help, so I'm really ready to get going on the weight loss adventure. I have just signed up on a website that lets you journal your food and activity for free. It also has tip and advisers for all types of medical problems. I suggest you search and find one that is right for you and get to journaling!

Losing the baby weight

2008-07-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

I need to get serious about losing this baby weight, and I'm hoping we can all help each other. People think that dieting is complicated, but it really is just common sense; what goes in must be less than what goes out. The lastest diet news is that people who keep a diary of what they eat lose more weight and are able to maintain longer. It is all about making good decisions, if you have to write it down and look at it then you have to own it.

Lazy Summer Daze

2008-07-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

Boy it is HOT here in Texas!!! Not much to do but sit inside and try to teach Rachel how to walk. Even the water in the pool is almost 90 degrees. I found a new group of mothers of preschoolers that I will be looking into. See what you think www.mops.org.

Ok so I had a bad day

2008-07-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my mother, Rachel and I were driving around Ft. Worth, when we found ourselves by the children's hospital. I didn't want to even think of what those kids and their parents were going through, but it was thrown into my face. We happen to pass by the helio pad at the same time they were unloading a baby, of course she looked to be the same age as my Rachel. We wondered where the parents were and what could have happened. Then all I could think of was stopping the car and hugging my baby (but she was getting a much needed nap). I'll never get over how God works, those little ways of getting you back on course to remember what is important. No matter what those talk shows say, having a baby does mean that you lose a little bit of yourself, but you gain a bigger, better part of who you should be.

Lord help me I'm bored!!!

2008-06-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry, but for us women who were not born with the maternal instinct, sitting on the floor all day playing with toys IS BORING. Some women do this and they love every minute, I love my baby, but I need some adult time. Just a day where I can go shopping and not worry about the money, go out to eat and not have to think what is the baby going to eat. Or just sit with my adult girlfriends and gripe about work. Being a stay at home mom is not just hard because you are constantly cleaning, chasing a kid, entertaining, cooking; but because you lose yourself in all of it. Now watching Oprah and other talk shows this happens to all mothers, but when you have had 40 years to develop who you are it is very hard to let go.

Our First Cold

2008-06-21T08:11:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Mother's Day Out (another reason to feel guilty), Rachel got her first cold. There is nothing worse than hearing a baby rasping for breath during sleep or looking into those fever heavy eyes. My heart is totally broken. With babies under two years of age there is not much that you can do but try to make them comfortable. I used a cool mist humidifier, some Baby Vicks Rub and lots of Kleenex. I also used, but do not know if it is recommended, a saline nose spray. I just held it up to her nose, not inside and sprayed. Enough got up in there to actually stop the stuffiness. Now my husband and I both have it, of course the husbands is worse than mine. Oh happy days!!

Pool Safety

2008-06-15T04:58:00.001-07:00

Before we had Rachel I loved the pool in our backyard. It was so wonderful after a crazy day at work in the hot Texas summer to come home and jump in! Now, all I do is worry about the baby drowning. There are nearly 1,000 drownings of young children every year and most are in their own pool. People tell me to get her swim lessons, but research shows that even babies who know how to swim drown. There are devices you can purchase such as a turtle alarm system. This is a bracelet that the child wears and it talks to a base that will sound an alarm if the turtle goes in the water. There is also the motion alarm which will sound if there is any disturbance in the water, this system sells any where from $200.00 to $300.00. There are also mechanical pool covers, a tarp that rolls out over the pool, but many children have still drown with these because of water collection on top of the tarp. Remember it only takes 2 inches of water for a baby to drown. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends fencing around the pool as the best measure of safety. Fencing does get very expensive and although removeable some leave holes in the decking. My best advice is to never turn your eyes away from a child in or near the water. Let the phone ring, let someone else do the cooking or cleaning. And God forbid if the baby is missing check the pool first and know CPR!

Sometimes Father Knows Best

2008-06-15T04:43:00.000-07:00

Father's Day can be a great time for baby and daddy to do some bonding. Although most Dad's in today's world are very hands on, there are still a few who think babies only need their mother. The fear of hurting the baby or not knowing how to interact with a baby are a couple of reasons. My husband is very good with the baby, but when she gets tired of being tickled he's got nothing and puts her down on the floor or back in her play pen. It never occurred to him to count or sing ABC's to her. Although a nine month old being on the floor so she is free to crawl around or in her play pen so she can use her imagination to play with her toys is a great thing and not a bad idea for the caretaker to get some things done. Hmmmm, Why didn't I think of that? I am always singing or talking or sitting on the floor with Rachel, she gets very little alone time when Mom is around, but maybe I'll take some parenting tips from the old man and just let the baby be.

Getting organized for the day out

2008-06-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

I never understood why it was so hard for my friends to do stuff with me while their children were young. I was free and single with no children and I thought just throw them in the car and lets go! They always told me "one day you'll understand". Oh my gosh it takes a pack mule to go anywhere with a kid. Food, bottles, snacks, diapers, wipes, extra clothes just in case, water bottle, pacifier, toys, car seat, and so on. It's crazy!!! I found myself dragging a suitcase with me just to go to lunch with my friends. Then I got smart, I realized how all those women were able to just get away with a big purse. I didn't need 20 diapers and a whole pack of wipes for a two hour outing and if I didn't have the favorite toy of the hour oh well there are always spoons. The advice my friends gave me was to not sweat the little stuff, children don't know that you forgot to bring cow-cow they are happy with the here and now. Stick a cold spoon in their mouth and they are happy for the next five minutes.

Mother's Day out Guilt

2008-06-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day Rachel and I spent more than 3 hours away from each other. I thought she would have some issues when I left her at Mother's Day Out, but she did great; I on the other hand was a wreck. I had decided that I needed free time to get stuff done around the house and run errands without having to lug her in and out of the car seat and that Rachel was bored with me and needed to make friends. I had been looking forward to this day for weeks! After dropping her off I went to the Chiropractors office and tried not to cry the whole time I was having therapy on my back. By the time I got home I had just decided to get after it and get my house clean, that would make time go by faster. I seemed to be moving in slow motion, it took me forever just to remove the magnets off the refrigerator so I could clean it. I could not stop thinking of how horrible I am for shipping my kid off when I am at home. Not only is the cost hurting our pockets, but the nurse practitioner told me that she really did not need friends at this age. My guilt kept wearing on me, I only completed about half of my list of things to do.
I had to wait till at least 1:00 before I could pick her up, because they were having nap time. I made it till 2:00!! One hour earlier than scheduled so I am very proud of myself. When I picked her up she did not act like I had been gone at all; it was like "oh there you are, look at all these toys!" I spent the rest of the day holding her and playing; nothing else on the list got done.

Teething

2008-05-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

My eight month old has three teeth and she is working on two more at the same time. This is cause for many a whiny day and night. Not wanting to be a drug inducing mom I have tried many different things to help her get rid of the discomfort. Two of our favorites is to freeze a pacifier that is designed for teething, it has the little bumps. The other is to barely wet a washcloth and put it in the refrigerator and then let her chew and suck on that. Keep a number at a time because they will warm up rapidly. Nighttime is difficult because of the obvious, loss of sleep. When the teething is really bad I have given a little Tylenol. I was once told that the number one reason parents take their babies to the emergency room is Tylenol overdose. So please read the directions and talk to your doctor. Just hang in there and think about how cute that smile will be with those little baby teeth.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

Instead of writing about the two teeth that are currently coming in causing all kinds of havoc, I wanted to spend my time thanking the men and women of the armed forces for their service. We owe our freedom to celebrate, to have more than one child, to worship whatever God we want to and so many more to these people. Also to their families who gave of themselves sometimes more than any of us can imagine. I think of all the wives and husbands raising children alone because their spouse is serving us. So if you know a Armed Service volunteer or a family member, give them a hug and say THANKS!

What happened to Happy Hour?

2008-05-19T20:45:00.000-07:00

What happened to happy hour I Remember when Happy Hour was 3pm-7pm and I lived for those $1.25 pints. Now happy hour is just that; an hour-at-a-time. One hour Rachel is playing with her toys and totally happy, the next she is crawling around the house looking for something to get into trouble with. I've gone down from the most used words in my volcabulary being "one more Miller Lite" to "No Rachel!". Just how many times is the boo-boo bunny suppose to come out in one day?

Why won't this baby be still?

2008-05-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

I was perfectly capable of getting 15-20 salesman to sit still for a four hour training session, but I can't get my eight month old to lay still while I change her diaper!! Just holding her while walking through the house she has to see where we are going and what we are passing. It's like she thinks I'm going to leave her and she has to remember details so she can find her way back to her crib. Don't even think about locking her in a exersaucer or something, just as she sees that she is going to be confined her legs go out into the splits so you can't get them into the little holes and she plops backwards instead of going in like she is sitting, screaming bloody murder all the while. Oh for the day when as a teenager she does nothing but lay around (Right).

I can't believe I'm a Mom!

2008-05-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

Much less a stay at home mom!!! After 41 years of not being bitten by the maternal bug, I slipped and Oh no I'm pregnant! When I went in for my first doctors visit, the nurse congratulated me and I began to bawl. See I know what it takes to be a mom. I watched my sister and brother (a single dad) and countless friends go through it. I knew it wasn't for me. I like doing what I like-when I like. But when the doctor did a sonogram at that first visit and I saw my little blob with that beating heart; my heart nearly burst out of my chest!! Now I'm changing diapers and making bottles instead of hanging with my friends after work. I'm loving every minute of it -- almost.