Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Happy 25th Bryan!!!

Happy Birthday hubby!!! I can't believe Bryan is 25 yrs old..... crazy! I feel like we are already getting close to 30 which is close to 40 which is... older....hahah.

We're going to have pepperoni bread and chocolate chocolate cake tonight with my parents. Our second car seat came today - excited about that. We are thinking we will probably get a second car once I am working full time. Maybe in a couple of weeks to a month.

Its snowy and dreary out today...Noah is napping all snuggled right now...I really wanted to take a picture of him but I can't find the camera...errr...

Sunday, February 21, 2010

BRRR

I am so sick of winter. Noah looks outside the windows every day wanting to go outside and see the horses and the cows and play. It's soo freakin cold that we barely get out. He definitely does not like being out in the cold and I don't blame him...I can't wait till spring!!!

We're hoping to have a big garden this year. I bought a book...hahah.....and am going to read it and also get some help from my grandparents and actually plant a garden. I think it will be great for Noah to help me pull weeds and play around in the dirt...besides saving us a chunk of money. We spend so much on fresh veggies now because Noah eats mostly fruits and vegetables.

I'm excited because we got a second car seat and some more cloth diapering supplies which were needed....its funny how excited I get about baby supplies now. I would honestly rather spend the money on him than me.

He took two naps today....he really needed both of them. I just don't know if he is ready for the 1 nap a day thing...I guess I'm just going to go with the flow. He finally cut his tooth on the bottom so now he is back to normal sleeping again.

We've got so much to do around the house still, its driving me crazy but by the end of the day...I'm so exhausted that I can't get anything done and Bryan is usually swamped with homework.

When I start working we're really going to need some assistance. haha.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Saturdayyy

Sitting here, trying to figure out budgets. Why am I compulsively driven to torture myself? It's either cleaning, budgeting, calculating, making lists.........something is always to be done. It's good because it gets things accomplished...however, I'm never satisfied.

I literally am restraining myself from writing out a list of things to do right now. Does that mean there is something wrong with me? I think there might be.....

I am officially hired at Howard Center...woot woot. Anxious to the point of tears about it but hired nonetheless. Work schedule looks like this: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday working 11pm-9am. I am hoping to transistion Noah to one LONG nap a day instead of two variable craziness naps. Today is my first day purposely doing this and so far so good...he went down around 11:30 (exhausted) and and I hope sleeping until 2....we shall see. It would be awesome if he would nap one 3 hr nap....putting him to sleep around 7:00pm tonight.

Nevaeh's 3rd Birthday today, Levi's 21st tomorrow and Bryan's 25th this Wednesday.... February is always a busy month.......

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Gentle Christian Mothers website statement of parenting beliefs

I agree with their statement of parenting beliefs and think I'll use this model to start making our own statement of parenting beliefs.


Our Parenting Beliefs

1. All children are a gift from God. Psalm 127:3
2. The husband/wife marriage relationship is the scriptural model for creating a family.
3. Life begins at conception, and unborn babies have a right to life and should be nurtured and loved. Psalm 139:13-16
4. Babies deserve the most natural and gentle birth possible.
5. Babies communicate through crying, and their cries deserve a quick, nurturing response.
6. Parents should not put an unnecessary emphasis on schedules.
7. Children greatly benefit from lots of physical touch, and babies can not be held too much.
8. Breastmilk is God's design in infant nutrition.
9. Breastfeeding satisfies not only babies' hunger and thirst, but it also is a great way to pacify and comfort them.
10. Breastfeeding babies on cue is important not only to help them grow strong and healthy, but it also helps them to learn to trust.
11. Breastfeeding into toddlerhood--and for as long as mother and child desire--continues to provide health and emotional benefits and serves to strengthen the foundation of trust laid in infancy.
12. Children's nighttime needs are as worthy of being met as their daytime needs, and each child has individual nighttime needs that should be respected and met to the best of their parents' ability.
13. There should be minimal separation between mother and baby, and parents need to be sensitive to their children's need to be close to them and not force separation before their child is ready.
14. Everyone benefits when children are an integral part of the family's daily life.
15. A father's involvement in raising his children is vital.
16. Parents have been given authority over their children from the Lord. Scripture is clear that discipline and correction are our responsibility as we raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
17. Fear and purposely-inflicted pain have no place in gentle, loving, Biblical discipline, and children should be discipled from birth with an appropriate mixture of kindness and firmness in a manner that respects their feelings and their developmental, emotional, and daily needs.
18. Parents are responsible for making informed decisions regarding their children's healthcare.

Beautiful!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Update

Job Update.
Visited the house I may be working at and didn't really get to meet the kids because they forgot I was coming....hah. I met two briefly but they left soon after for the library. I did get a tour of the house and run down of some important things. I forgot how institutional feeling these residential can be. The furniture sucks and things are just so utilitarian. Now that I'm a mom...I just see things differently. I just want to go in there and redecorate and make it very comfortable and homey.....obviously, I can't do that but I want to. Just being in there ...I felt like I could feel these kiddos pain.....all have sexual trauma in their past and just the fact they are 7,8, 9 yrs old and have so much on their plate is heartbreaking. The staff I met that showed me around really cut to the chase and gave me the full story on the kids being violent, running away, exposing female staff....like anything you can think of. That intimidated me since I haven't ever had to do a restraint or had an issue with being exposed at work. haha. It doesn't happen all the time or anything but I'm sure it WILL happen eventually.
So .....in short,....I'm still debating whether to take the job. I am interviewing at another place working overnight with pregnant and parenting young moms (which I think I would love) but we'll see...

Noah Update
Noah is now saying his name! Isn't that awesome!!!!?! Its sooo cute...he says NooooAH! haha. I love it...He is being so adorable lately. We're on an even keel right now..he is sleeping so well...only waking to nurse at like 4 or 5 am and sleeping till 7. It's great. He is now solidly into his 18 month clothing....still about 21 lbs....but I think he is getting taller.... he has a whole mouth full of teeth that just look like they are waiting to pop through...his gums on top of his molars look swollen.....eek..there will be some rough nights ahead I'm sure. We bought him a second carseat finally with our tax return money so we don't have to keep moving them. We went with a True Fit Premier a step up from our True Fit.

That's all for now folks.
Olympics are on!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Exciting new job possibility?

SO I applied for a Overnight Residential Counselor Position at the Howard Center in Burlington just kinda out of the blue...just to see what would happen. A day later, the recruiter called me back and told me to come in for an interview. Super exciting! I was told they were currently offering the job to an internal candidate but it would be good for me to come in anyway. I interviewed with her and that went pretty well and was called back for another interview today with the team lead and the clinician working with the house that I would be working at. The recruiter said that it was basically a meeting for them to meet and approve of the person she wanted for the job. (!) AND she told me that the internal candidate did not take the position.
That went realllyy well and now I get to go on Friday to meet the kids and essentially feel out if I want the position. I'll know by Tuesday I think if I have it for sure. She still has to check references but I don't think that would be a problem at all.

I'm really excited because it will be Thursday from 9pm-9am, Friday from 9pm-9am and Saturday from 7pm-8am. That's 40 hrs a week, full benefits and I'll get to stay home with Noah during the day and he will be with Bryan at night while I'm at work. Its going to be hard as far as sleep goes..but that shouldn't be too difficult. At this point, I'm used to no sleep. haha.

YAY!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Intersecting Needs: Maslow, interdependence, parenting, caregiving, relationships

Intersecting Needs: Maslow, interdependence, parenting, caregiving, relationships

This is an incredible overview of how to balance motherhood or caregiving and being a responsive, attached parent.

Cabin Fever.

Staying at home has its ups and downs. Some days I feel so antsy to get out the house I think I'm going to explode. Other days there is nothing more peaceful and wonderful than being at home and cleaning.

This morning started off as an explode day. Bryan was leaving late for a 1/2 day at work. I had the brilliant idea that Noah and I would drop him off and spend a couple of hours jaunting around Burlington, happy as larks. We would shop, we would read books at Barnes and Noble and have muffins at Healthy Living. Noah had other ideas. We arrived at the gas station no more than 3 minutes down the road and the screaming ensued. His tired little face turning red and angry and my previously happy demeanor turning...a-g-i-t-a-t-e-d. ARGH Why can't I just go and do whatever I want for 4 hours?! WAH WAH WAH. Pity Party for Sarah. We returned home because we forgot the debit card- I decided we should just stay. I carried Noah upstairs to nurse him to sleep for his nap, feeling a bit resigned to domestication the whole way.

As soon as his little arms hugged my neck and his eyes fluttered into light sleep and his little body relaxed.....my agitation just melted. What was I so mad about? Who cares if I can't go to barnes and noble today? I get to stay home and enjoy this precious baby all day. How privileged am I? He is sleeping now and I get to stand over him and soak it all in. Being a mother is the best job in the world- even if it means you get cabin fever once in a while.

I understand though that many people NEED to get out of the house. I'm one of them to some extent. As long as I get one day where I can out for a couple of hours during the week, I'm totally fine to be home all week. I do miss working but there is no work that I miss enough to actually want to leave Noah to return to. Granted, we do need the money, but at this point I'd rather be in debt and enjoy my son's company. I'll do whatever it takes to make money from home so I can stay with him. Sometimes it feels more difficult to make ends meet but I guess that's why the best things in life require sacrifice.

Aside, Please Lord, bring summer back to us SOON. February and March are my crazy months.