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Worries of a Mommy-To-Be of Two

August 24, 2012 by Sarah 11 Comments

I have seen a similar themed post on pretty much every blogger pregnant with baby #2′s blog, which makes me feel like what I’m about to write about is totally normal.

I have always known that I wanted more than one child. I just prayed that God would bless us with more children, and praise Him because here we are – almost 30 weeks pregnant with Baby #2. I’ve never wanted Braden to be a single child, but as we thought about when would be the “perfect” time to expand our family…there is no perfect time.We’re at a point with Braden right now where there’s no more diapers, he’s more independent, he sleeps wonderfully and so do we, and life is pretty darn easy and a whole lotta fun. He’s so so so much fun and we’re loving this age…but in a couple of months we’ll be starting all over again with a brand new baby. Don’t get me wrong! We know what we signed up for and we’re very happy about it…but it’s just like with any major milestone in life, it never seems like there’s a perfect time to take that leap of faith and change your life forever.

So what are some of my worries?

Guilt. Mega, mega guilt. What will Braden think when my attention almost fully goes to his brand new baby sister/brother? It’s not all about him anymore.
Love. I know I will love Squishy. I already do, just how I loved Braden when I was pregnant with him. But how much love can my heart hold? The love I have for Braden as his mother…I can’t even describe it – but I know you mommies out there know exactly what I’m talking about. How do you possibly love another baby as much as you love your first!? I know it’s possible! I see it all the time with my family & friends, but before it actually happens to me…I just can’t picture it all.
Time. How will I manage? I want to still do stuff with just Braden…but breastfeeding a new baby – how? I know that one day I’ll be able to pump and Jay or whomever can give bottles…but certainly not in the beginning. We have this family of 3 thing NAILED! It’s just so easy, so I know it will take time to adjust to being a family of 4.
Work. How will I go back to work? I know Jay will learn to be a father of two just as I learn to be a mother of two…but just taking care of one is so easy…how about two!? It will come, this I know…but it just seems so complicated to me right now.
Comparisons. Baby Squishy has some big “shoes” to fill. I will love this babe no matter if s/he is the most colicky baby on the face of the earth (PLEASE don’t be!! haha)…but Baby Braden was phenomenal. He had his sleep regression, like most babies, but other than that he was and still is to this day such an amazing baby/toddler. How can I not compare my two babies?!…but at the same time I don’t want to set “expectations” on a newborn…because really it’s just silly and there’s nothing you can do about it! But even still I can’t help but wonder that because Braden was such a good baby…does that mean I’ll “pay” for it this time?

I know these feelings are normal, and I’m actually, truly excited to be having another child and to make Braden a big brother. I know he’ll love his baby sister/brother – I just know it. It’s the kind of person that he is. But I’m just so in my comfort zone right now and change can be so scary. I’m not having anxiety attacks about this…it’s not something that has me in a constant state of worry…but it’s just things that have popped up in my brain from time to time.

My friend Myndee at Fresh GraNOLA blog wrote this post on how she felt before she had her 2nd baby…and it has made me feel so much better. What are your experiences with having subsequent children?

In other news, I am 30 weeks pregnant today! 70 or so days to go. If you want to read back, here is my 30 week post from last time. Here’s a mini-update for you:

DONE WORK! In my last 30 week post I still had 8.5 weeks of work to go. I cannot imagine this time! CANNOT! Call me a princess, call me whatever you want, but I am blessed to not have to work anymore than past 30 weeks and I’m taking it. I don’t know how my colleagues work full-time 12 hour day/night lines in the 3rd trimester with other children at home, you’re heroines!
Sleep is juuuuuuust starting to get uncomfortable, definitely feels better to sleep with a pillow between my legs now to help with hip pain…and it feels like I have to “heave ho” to turn over with the belly now!
I can blame approximately 3 lbs of my pregnancy weight on the baby now!
Actually still feeling really good – I can still bend over Braden to put on his shoes! (Jay can’t even do this without a 30 week belly! haha!)
My next appointment is the beginning of September and then I go to every 2 week appointments already! Unless it’s raining I think Braden will have to come with me to my appointments, but that’s okay.
Varicose veins. Gross. How unsightly. Sigh. I only got a few spider veins on my lateral left knee last time…this time I have one big varicose vein, but luckily it’s well hidden…and plenty more spider veins to add to the collection.
I still get nauseous if I don’t eat
I have had no desire to exercise…at all. Probably a lot due to the extreme heat we’ve had this summer, but in all honesty – who cares? Really… I’m just trying to enjoy this and relax if I can. My daily housework is a workout in itself anyway!

And I leave you with another funny!

ECGSignature

10811 CommentsWorries+of+a+Mommy-To-Be+of+Two2012-08-24+14%3A33%3A00Sarah

Filed Under: baby #2, family of 4, motherhood, on my heart, pregnancy, pregnant problems Tagged With: baby #2, motherhood, on my heart, pregnancy, Sarah

Why The Age Gap?

July 20, 2012 by Sarah 8 Comments

Well, a lot of people may question why we timed it to have our kids almost 3 years apart. Around the time that Squishy will be born, Braden will be just under 3 months away from turning 3. I think this age gap will be perfect, especially considering the fact that we don’t know or not if we will add another one to the mix. And honestly, I’ll be turning 30 next April, so I think I might want to wait the 3 years again to have another, if we do…I’ll still be plenty young! Some people need to have their kids bing-bang-boom they just want to get all the diapers and little kid stuff done all at once and I think that’s great. I know, myself, that I would not cope well with that! I’m not made to be a “2 under 2″ or “3 under 3″ kind of mom! I know I could do it if I had to…but I don’t, so I’m not!

My two big goals before having Squishy were to get Braden in a toddler bed, so as to not have to buy another crib, and to have him potty trained so I could have (hopefully) 6 months of being a diaper-free home! Now, I can say with authority that Braden is 100% potty trained. I was nervous about our upcoming 8+ hour road trip to BC next week, and how we’d do with car seat naps and potty training…but in the last few weeks he has eased my anxiety (as he always does) and he tells us all the time “I need to go potty” when he has to pee when we’re in the vehicle. He’s only ever had 2 pee accidents in his car seat, and even the odd time when he naps, he wakes up dry. He can pee on the side of the road if we need, but he’s also proven in the last week that he can hold his bladder for almost 1/2 hour until we can get home or to a place with an actual potty! Which comforts me more knowing that we have to drive Rogers Pass, down a mountain, where you pretty much can’t pull over next week!

He’s got the nap thing down, the odd time he takes a nap, that is! He had a 4 hour nap when we were camping and woke up dry! He often wakes up dry in the morning but we still put a diaper on as a back-up, just in case! I think if I was really strict with fluid restriction intake after supper he would probably wake up dry all the time, but I’ll wait until he’s a bit older…or, knowing him, he’ll just do it with his ready.

For the love of everything holy, JUST POOP IN THE EFFING POTTY!!!

The scoop on poop. I had been avoiding posting about this, so not to drive my readers crazy, though I did send out a few tweets of frustration the last few weeks. He has had poops in his potty since day 1. I kinda figured it was a fluke, but was also very happy that he did it so he would “know” that he could and that he should. BUT, over the last month and a half or so, he just could NOT get the poop on the potty thing down. I didn’t know what to do. I tried increasing the fibre in his diet so he would have to go more regularly (he’s been an every 2-3 day pooper for well over a year now) but that wasn’t working. He would keep having tiny accidents in his underwear, but wouldn’t “really” go. The morning we went to Hertiage Park, I knew he had to go, so I tried bribing him with the train ride – and it worked! He went all by himself in his little potty and I thought we hit a huge milestone. But even the next week after that, he would.not.do.it in the potty. Kept having small accidents in his underwear. So finally…I broke out the laxative. I’m not talking like “Ex-Lax” bowel-prep laxative, I’m talking a powder laxative that’s meant to increase regularity. Again, the morning we were to go camping, I knew it was a poop day. We begged and pleaded and bribed that he could go camping and ride on the boat, but he had to poop in the potty. Poor kid, we all felt horrible…but eventually as Jay and I were packing up the trailer, he went to mom and told her he pooped on the potty – and he did! We tried making him sit for 20 minutes, watching Netflix on the iPad…nothing was working and eventually he just did it on his own. He was SO thrilled with the reward of going camping…that when we were camping he had 2 small poops in the trailer potty and he hasn’t looked back since.

It was a very frustrating thing for all of us, but as with everything in his life, he just did it when he was ready. I wish I had magic cure I could tell you for getting your toddlers to poop on the potty, but as my friend with triplets a few months older than Braden said – it just takes a bit longer for some to be pooped trained and it will happen when it happens! It’s one of the few things in their life they can control!

Another thing that I really like about this age gap, is that I don’t have to run around the world getting Braden to school or sports. Braden won’t be in play school until fall 2013 and he’s not in any classes or lessons so we can just chill, commitment-free at home getting used to being a family of 4!

And here’s a couple Flashback Friday pictures…because no post should go without a few pictures!

Sarah

1308 CommentsWhy+The+Age+Gap%3F2012-07-20+16%3A15%3A00Sarah

Filed Under: baby #2, Braden, Flashback Friday, mom of 2, motherhood, potty training

Summer Fun: Heritage Park

July 2, 2012 by Sarah 13 Comments

So last Thursday, I was debating about joining Laura & Luke at Heritage Park like we had planned to do for a couple of weeks. I had a memorial service I wanted to attend for a coworker who suddenly passed the prior week, but things were looking really busy for Jay and I wasn’t sure if I should keep him from work, though of course he was very willing to stay with Braden so I could attend. With a little prayer in, asking for a bit of guidance, I got my answer in the weirdest way. In a desperate bribe, I said to Braden (knowing he had to do it…) “If you poop in the potty this morning, Mommy will take you to ride a big steam train!” I figured – if he doesn’t I’ll go, if he does it we’ll go to the park. We’ve been having #2 issues since potty training began. He has done it quite a few times in the potty. But for some very frustrating reason, he chooses to do it in his underwear now.

But…

While I was locking the doors in the house so said toddler couldn’t escape outside while I was planning to have my shower, I thought I’d better check on him one more time. Low and behold, I went into this bathroom and there was a (TMI, I know) ginormous #2 in his potty. Hip hip hooray! We celebrated! We cheered! I gave him the sucker he had been longing for! We called Poppy & Daddy to spread the good news! And I called Laura to tell her that – yes – we would be going to Heritage Park with them. I texted another coworker and told her I wasn’t going to make it, she said “that’s what she would have wanted anyway – for you to be spending time with Braden”. I hope you’re not judging me for making a decision in such a way. She was a dear coworker who will be missed greatly, but reading that my friend wrote that text, I took it as a blessing, and with a tear and a smile, I packed us up and off to Heritage Park we went.

You can see why I knew Braden would love this place, right?

Not only does Heritage Park have the big steam train, it has a mini amusement park for kids and the boys loved the rides!

Surprisingly, to me, Braden’s favorite was the mini ferris wheel! He was saying “I high in a ‘ky Mommy!”

Doesn’t this pic look like it could be from the movie “The Notebook”?

He had a great time on the train, we did 2 full loops of the tracks with 3 stops included…he’s still very “2 year old” and does not understand being patient, having to wait his turn, it’s time to get off rides…but all in all, he did really really well.

The boys really wanted to go on a horse ride…but with their mothers 22 & 35 weeks pregnant at the end of a long day in the sun…we said no and got ready to leave!

Within about 10 minutes or less of the ride home…this happened:

Car seat naps for sleepy boys #FTW! Also going to stop at Peters for burgers and shakes!

We stopped at the best burger place EVER – Peter’s Drive In – and picked up supper for the whole family.

The best burger and shake you've ever had in your life! @PetersDriveIn

My brother and I, have both made special Peter’s trips from Edmonton, a little 3 hour jaunt up highway 2, just for Peter’s. You’re not a Burrell until you’ve come to Calgary just for a Peter’s burger & shake! (Just to reiterate…that’s 6 hours of driving round-trip in one day just for a burger & shake!)

I promised myself to make this a really, really fun summer for Braden. His last as a single child and old enough to really enjoy some stuff.

Some more items on our summer bucket list:

Braden’s first camping trip – I so desperately wanted to take him his first summer but the weather sucked, and NOT last summer as he was just way too busy
More trips to the spray park
More trips to the zoo
Trip to BC
Trip to Banff (maybe we’ll stop on our way home from BC to have a mini trip)
Playing outside as much as possible with friends and family
Swimming lessons in August
Trips to the lake & boating

What a post! And lastly – a happy anniversary to Ben & Jess! I can’t believe it’s been a year!

14213 CommentsSummer+Fun%3A+Heritage+Park2012-07-02+18%3A49%3A00Sarah

Filed Under: Braden, potty training, trains Tagged With: Calgary day trips, Heritage Park, trains

Getting Serious About Potty Learning/Training

April 28, 2012 by Sarah 6 Comments

He’s 2 years and 3 months old today. Time to grow up, kid!! As much as I love my cloth diapers, mama is SO ready to have a break from diapering and doing all the laundry that comes with it. A 5+ month break would be just AWESOME, okay buddy?

The reason why I had a goal of 2 years, 3 months in mind to seriously potty train Braden is because that’s when my nephew Luke was trained, and they really seem to be developing on pretty much the same curve. Up until now I’ve been using the term “potty learning“, but now…I’m going to do my research this week, and I’m hoping by the beginning of next week we can go into hard core potty training. I am a firm believer that kids CAN be trained. Touchy subject to some, I know…but I sleep trained my baby, and look how awesome that went! I know, and it is not my intent, to push potty training on him. I do not want him to have a bad experience, make it negative in any way at all….but I want it done. I feel like I know he’s ready by things he says and the interest he does have in the potty now. He loves to sit on the potty, but as soon as his naked little bum hits the toilet seat he says “done!” He does understand and say to us “Pee on potty! Get potty treat!” but then he doesn’t actually do it!

So here’s where my week approaching of research comes in. We’ve been reading this book for months with Braden:

It also came with a little boy doll and potty so that Braden can “teach” the doll how to use the potty and it comes with this DVD, which I will start showing to Braden this upcoming week, every day.

Laura trained my nephew Luke with this book:

It sounds too good to be true, but I think with whatever method I use, if I’m just consistent and have the determination to do it, I will, and so will Braden. One of my Twitter friends saw some of my tweets about potty training and says she swears by the three day method. I will use this week to review which method, or a combination of the two???, will work best for us.

For my mommy friends who have potty trained your toddlers…here are some concerns I have, and points I wanted to make, and if you could comment with suggestions or advice, I’d greatly appreciate it!

Braden typically doesn’t care if he is soaking wet or even if he has a poopy diaper…does this mean he’s not ready?
He is holding his bladder longer every week, and seems to have one big huge pee a few times a day
I leave him commando (sans diaper) in the morning for up to 2 hours and he doesn’t have an accident
He shows great interest when me or Jay go to the potty
Knows he gets a “potty treat” (I have a jar of M&M’s) if he goes…but doesn’t seem motivated on his own enough to pee to actually get said treat.
When I see Braden pooping, I have asked him in the past “do you want to go poop on the potty?” he says “no”
Has been quite upset, even seems “devastated”, when I have changed his poopy diapers lately
He only poops every 3-4 days…will that be really hard to train?
Do I go right into night training too? I really don’t want to just do a load of 3 cloth diapers every 3 days only for nighttime use…know what I mean?
We will not be using cloth “pull ups” only underwear
What do you think of this reward system:

As far as rewards go…I have this free potty chart that I’m going to put in our bathroom, and he can put a Thomas sticker whenever he does each of these things:

I am also going to take away all of his toy trains…seriously! And make a very visual chart so that when he pees once, he will get a sticker and then get “Thomas” back. Then when he pees/poops twice, he will get to put the stickers on his chart and get “Percy” back, and so on and so forth. Mean mommy? I don’t know, in my head that as a reward system will probably work better than the M&M’s, his face lit up like a Christmas tree when my Mom gave him a bunch of new trains last weekend! So why not take them away and give them back? Plus I have brand new trains, some of the “big” ones that he will get once he’s farther along in training. I also will be telling him that he will get a train table in his room once his diaper change table is gone. I’m not 100% sure he will understand that…but it’s worth a shot. We do have a train table for him, was going to save it for Christmas, but #1 he won’t actually get to “open” it at Christmas…we’d have to set it up and leave it at home anyway, and #2 if it’s a big motivator in helping my boy get potty trained, it’s worth the early present!

I’d love to hear your encouraging stories and helpful advice, friends!
Sarah

1896 Comments2012-04-28+20%3A28%3A00Sarah

Filed Under: Braden, milestone, motherhood, potty learning, potty training, toddler

TAT: My Favorite Milestones/Firsts

October 25, 2011 by Sarah 12 Comments

This week’s topic from Toddle Along Tuesday is Milestones…and again in May 2012 we visit “favorite firsts”! I have many posts and even a label for Braden’s various milestones. But I thought I’d choose my favorite!

Laughing – 3 Months Old

Rolling Over – 4 Months Old

Army Crawling – 7 Months Old

Getting Good at Walking – 14 Months

I hope you enjoyed looking at just some of my favorite of Braden’s milestones with me (again!)! Really…they’re all my favorite. The first time he said “mama”? The first time he clapped? Oh reminiscing!

And now for the updated May 2012 version, I have to say that the first time Braden sang along to a song with me pretty much melted my heart. Don’t mind my voice, I’m singing for the children – think of the children!

I so much dreaded the big boy bed and potty training, but I have to say now that they’re done…another awesome milestone to add to the books!