Here is a cute picture that my mom & stepdad took of Logan this month, with one foot on Omaha and the other on Des Moines to remember our "inbetween time" of our move :-)
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You know those videos of people moving around in fast forward? I think if you put a camera on me that is what I would look like these days -- in real time!
On the bright side, because of this, living as a vagabond is going fast. (No matter how hard I try to pretend that I am a person who likes adventure. . .I just don't, so I was right about this part of our "crazy summer" being the hardest for me. But just five weeks left!) The downside is that I didn't want Krissa's first five weeks to be over so quickly! I loved how relaxing life was when Logan was born. I stopped everything else (I didn't care about anything else!) and had a lot of time to just sit with him. Now, even without our move, just having a three year old in addition to a baby makes "relaxing" impossible. I have learned probably what all of you other mothers who have more than one child already know. The whole fear that I had prior to having baby #2 -- "how can I balance everything?" -- the answer is: "I can't." There IS no balance (at least in the equal sense), but once I accepted that, things HAVE gotten easier.
Yes, since my last post when adjusting to two children was still calm and easy, things have been more chaotic now that I'm by myself living in someone else's home.
To bring you up to date from Moving Day. . .Joe headed to work Monday morning, August 8th while I stayed with Krissa and packed our things for my dad's house. By the time I'd loaded everything into the car and we pulled out of the driveway, it was 6:15 pm. Thankfully, Krissa did excellent on the car ride -- she never made one peep. She had surprised me by being awake most of the day which is why we didn't get out of there earlier, but the upside to that was that she slept the whole 3 hr car ride. I stopped halfway to use the restroom and get gas, and so I took that opportunity to nurse her in my car with my wrap (which I've used several times now and love) while she continued to sleep. We arrived to my dad's at 9:30 pm (I would have gotten there at 9 but despite him living in his house for 11 years I got lost, SIGH, because I've never come to his house from that direction before). Here is our "apartment" (my dad's basement; the doors go to a bathroom and closets; we brought my nursery room recliner and Logan's bed):
We unloaded everything and all went to bed at 11:30 pm. Krissa had slept 6 hrs straight through the night before and she did that night, too, as well every night since then so that has been nice. I was also relieved that Logan slept til 9:30 am -- which meant I did, too, on Tuesday morning, August 9th. I am very thankful that I've been able to have good nights of sleep ever since Krissa was born.
My dad doesn't cook or keep any food in the house (my stepmom had headed back to her house in Michigan at 7 am that morning) so after getting myself, Logan, and Krissa ready (which was slow -- it took approx. an hour for each of us) it was 12:30 when we headed to Hy-Vee to get groceries. It was my first trip out with BOTH kids and I realized as soon as I got there that it was going to be challenging, as Logan has always ridden in the cart but there was not room for both him AND Krissa AND groceries. So I told him now that he's a big boy he gets to walk.
That didn't go over. All of these years that it was just the two of us I was happy that he always loved riding in the cart. Now I wished he didn't :p We sat in the car for 10 min as he threw a fit while I told him we were not getting out until he agreed to walk. (Unfortunately, his daily episodes from a couple of months ago have returned. I'm actually glad that I saw this behavior from him in June because otherwise I would have thought the change was linked to having a sister now, but I'm 100% sure it's simply being three years old since we didn't have the terrible twos. Three was always my fav age with OTHER people's kids but now I've come to learn that with all of those new fun parts, there are also things that I never had to deal with during Logan's previous ages that seem like they are limited to age three. . .hopefully.)
I showed Logan the cart and how, with the carseat inside, there was not much room for anything else. (If I had planned better, I would have worn my baby bjorn, but I hadn't brought it.) Finally, he agreed (if he could get a Lunchable) and so he walked next to me and often tried to help push the cart as well. I tried to go fast, but halfway through, Krissa started to cry. I had brought some pumped breastmilk in a bottle, but seeing as this was only her second day for getting a bottle, it was not the pot of gold that it had always been for Logan. We had gone his entire first year without ANY tears in public (thanks to always having a bottle handy), but that was not the case with Krissa. She drank a LITTLE milk which calmed her enough for me to finish up, but then started wailing again in the check out line and the bottle just made her madder so there was no way to quiet her down. :( Everyone around seemed very sympathetic at least.
Once we got to the car I took her out of her carseat and tried to settle her down. I can tell she already has expectations. Logan always went with the flow; if something differed from what he originally was wanting, he didn't fuss and just went with it. Krissa, on the other hand, gets something in her mind and gets upset if reality doesn't match that. In this case, I think she was expecting a breast and not a bottle -- even though both would have had the same end result. A lady in a car stopped and asked if I needed help putting my groceries in the car so that was nice, but I politely declined. Krissa stopped crying and so I put her back in the carseat, hooked Logan in his, put the groceries in the car (I was glad there hadn't been room for much), and headed back to my dad's house. I'm glad it wasn't winter or super humid -- it was in the 70's all of that week!
There was a funny moment, though, when Logan had said, "Krissa's crying is hurting my ears, what are we going to do with this baby?"
We got back to my dad's house around 2 pm and I was STARVING because I hadn't eaten since supper the eve before. I've lost 3 pounds since our new living arrangement, so 5 more to go for my pre-pregnancy weight (2 until I can start wearing my old jeans again).
After our late lunch it was naptime. I told Logan I'd take one, too (since Krissa was sleeping), but whether it was all sleeping in the same room (that's how we're set up at my dad's as you can see from the above pictures) or something else -- Logan never fell asleep (so then neither did I) :( After laying there from 3 to 4:30 I finally gave up.
All day it had been hard every time I needed to nurse Krissa because something would always happen with Logan where he'd need me. (Again, this was our first day all by ourselves -- until then I'd either had Joe's help, or JUST Krissa.) So I felt bad because I kept having to start and stop with her, put her down to tend to him so then she would cry, but when I would tell him I was busy then chaos would ensue with him! Unless I can clone myself and have two of me, I can't be two places at once or with two people at once. Reality hit me about with this when I was changing Krissa's diaper and she started peeing and pooping everywhere. I had her on a changing pad on the floor and didn't want it to get on the carpet so I was trying to save it from running off at the same time that it was getting ALL over her. . .at the same time that Logan started crying from the bathroom that he was having trouble pooping.
Never in his 3 yrs had he had trouble with constipation, in fact I've blogged over the years that he's so regular it's almost funny (same hour of every day his entire life). Even when he had his pneumonia bacteria in his intestines and had to take Miralax. Well, a week before this he had started crying at our house because his bottom hurt and he had to poop. He kept going to and from the bathroom all day but it wasn't coming out. Then, finally it was time and it actually traumatized ME. I was so glad Joe was there because Logan was screaming like he was being tortured; Joe said the whole scene reminded him of me being in labor! Logan would get up and want to walk around or stand, because sitting hurt too much. We were giving him warm water to drink, had him sit in a warm bath, and I had already given him prunes earlier in the day. Thankfully, we had a little bit of the Miralax left over from January and so we gave that to him and soon after he pooped -- on the floor. Unlike his usual textbook poop, this was hard as stone (and huge).
Well August 9th was the same thing. I finally got Krissa cleaned up enough to allow me to go to a crying Logan in the bathroom to find poop and pee all over the floor! I about started crying myself.
I had to put Krissa down to clean the floor, which she still has a hard time with (since she prefers to be held all of the time -- although last night/the night before turning five weeks old was the first time that she went to sleep on her own without me holding her in the recliner or laying next to her so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that from now on she will go down easily like Logan always did!) and so along with Logan crying because he'd stepped in the poop and had it all over his feet (as well as the toilet seat and floor), Krissa was crying as well. That's another thing that's different from when Logan was this age. Aside from his surroundings being so calm and quiet, she's had to cry more than Logan ever did. At this point with him I hadn't let him cry for more than 10 seconds! I am glad that at least so far Krissa seems to give up easily. Logan was the type that, had I been one of those people who did the cry it out method, he would have cried for hours. But Krissa always stops on her own during those times that I can't get to her. So, it's probably good she wants to be held all of the time because it allows me to compensate for the attention that I have to give to Logan. Thankfully, I feel soooo bonded to her already, I just adore her to pieces!!!! I know it sounds funny to say this about a five week old, but she seems like such a nice, easy to get along with person! I am relieved because I was worried we wouldn't "click" as well as Logan and I do -- but we do. I think the four of us can be a family that really gets along and enjoys each other (which is what I've always wanted).
The story isn't over yet. After cleaning the mess up, I sat down to nurse Krissa and then she had one of her projectile vomits. Meanwhile, Logan was eating an orange and choked on some pulp so then HE started throwing up! I was like, is this for real?!?! So there I was, tossing blankets and burp towels at everyone so as not to get anything on my dad's carpet -- which somehow I managed to save.
I was so relieved when Joe came home from work.
He brought burgers from Culver's for supper, and then afterward my dad showed Logan how to fish for the first time so that was finally some fun! (Logan hasn't seemed to have any trouble living at my dad's house -- in fact, I've never seen him so hyper in his life as he's been these past two weeks. I had been worried that he might be bored without all of his usual toys and our usual activities, but every day he wakes up excited and is still running around when it's time to go to bed.)
Logan went to bed with the rest of us at 11 again so we were able to sleep in until 10 am on Wednesday, August 10th. I am so glad that he hasn't been waking up at 6 or 7 am because then I would be a crab since I've only been able to get Krissa to go to sleep earlier than 11 pm twice. One night was 10 and the other night was 10:30 but otherwise she is still active and wide-eyed until 11.
As of last week, her breastfeeding schedule has been more "normal." Rather than her previous 12 feedings a day, she has since nursed 9 times a day. This has helped with her projectile vomiting, as she only does it about 3 days a week now (compared to her previous 7) -- although as recently as yesterday she had a bad spell where it happened 5 times in a row. It still catches us off guard when she does it; Joe calls her Poltergeist :p She also still chokes every feeding which rips my heart out :(
Starting with her last feeding at 11 pm, they usually fall at 5 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 3 pm, 5 pm, 7 pm, 9 pm, and then there is always a floating one -- one that falls back-to-back with one of the other hours, either 11 am, noon, 2, 4, 8, or 10 pm.
The decrease in her feedings, though, led to me starting my period (it was either last Tues or Wed)!!! I could not believe it, what a travesty :p With Logan, I didn't start until he was 5 1/2 months old but so many women I know don't have it the entire time they are breastfeeding, so I was thinking maybe this time since I was doing pretty much ALL nursing and not much pumping that maybe I'd be that lucky :( I guess there's a chance it was something else, but it lasted 4 days (at least there were no cramps) so we'll see if it happens again in a month :p
After we all got around on Wednesday, I realized there were some things I'd forgotten at the grocery store the day before (imagine that, lol!) so we drove to Hy-Vee in Ankeny again -- but this time I went over to my mom & stepdad's house (since Ankeny is where they live). Logan took his nap there again while I pumped a bottle for Krissa because my mom said she'd watch her while Logan and I went to the store. My pump (from when I had Logan) is about to die so my mom bought me Medela's Hands Free one which I washed and got all ready on the 13th so am looking forward to using that from now on.
Krissa did well with her third bottle -- and so did my mom for her first time watching Krissa! (Krissa is still not like Logan who didn't care who held him -- she is still a mama's girl. However, I was determined to get the pacifier to work and now she takes it about 25% of the time which really helps -- that's the only way she will lay content by herself. During those times she actually seems addicted to it, so hopefully she'll be like Logan and just stop on her own at 3-4 months when the sucking need becomes less important to babies, rather than have it until she's, like, five yrs old) Logan was excited to drive the cart that looks like a car, so I was glad we were able to have a little outing the two of us, even though it was quick.
We picked up Krissa when we were finished and then headed back to my dad's in time for Joe to come home from work. I put in a frozen pizza for supper.
Thursday, August 11th was pretty much the same. We got up at a nice hour, got ready, and then went over to my mom's where Logan took his nap and then he and I went to the store again (finally got everything that time, and he drove the car-cart) while my mom watched Krissa.
Each day has had less disasters, but I'm still getting the hang of things. One day I wasn't acting very perky and Logan said, "What's wrong Mom?" I said, "There's just a lot going on." He said, "We're doing the best we can, Mom." So wise; I had to laugh.
Lately he's been saying, "I don't want to ever take Krissa back!" He still says he wants to keep her forever and that she's the best baby ever. . .the same things he was saying when she was first born so that's good :-)
We had KFC that evening. . .I'm tired of fast food so hopefully I will have a chance to cook soon.
Friday, August 12th (Krissa turned 4 weeks old!) Joe went back to Omaha after work while I stayed at my dad's, because Joe decided to do more painting before I joined him for the final cleaning of our house. After we got up and around, I met Joe's mom to hand off Logan for the weekend. Nap attempt #2 at my dad's failed so it was his second time for not taking one that week.
It was hard to say goodbye to Logan -- he cried, which is a rare occasion when going with the grandparents. . .but we don't usually have so many long durations apart in a row; I promised him this would be the last for awhile!
Krissa and I had a relaxing evening; I was able to watch some television for the first time all week as well as clean and organize our living area. Just had leftovers for supper.
On Saturday, August 13th (my mom & stepdad's 23rd anniversary!) I got up at 7:30 am so as to leave at 9:30 am for Omaha. This time I only stopped to get gas (Krissa slept through her morning feeding), and then arrived a little after noon. I immediately got right to work on cleaning and more packing (while Krissa slept, as you can see)
and we didn't stop the rest of the weekend -- except for a break to eat a final time at Varsity's Roman Coin Pizza. It was our first time going to a restaurant with Krissa and (since I didn't bring a bottle and didn't really want to nurse there even with my wrap) thankfully, she slept through our meal. Also, that evening our neighbors Sean & Brenda came over to meet Krissa (and they gave her a card & money) and to say goodbye to us AND our dogs that they dogsat for the past three years. We will miss them; we were so lucky to have such great neighbors all around us.
On Sunday, August 14th we were so relieved to be finished cleaning. I thought it would never end, despite keeping my house fairly clean on a regular basis -- or so I thought. . .it seemed like I could have done even more! For example, we've never washed our windows during our 4 years in that house! So that's something we might do when we come back for my 6 week check up with my OBGYN. Joe doesn't want to make any more trips other than that one (until we close on our new house and move the rest of our things out), so August 26/27 will be it. :(
I left at 9 pm and Joe left at 9:30 pm. We'd had subs for lunch (got another final time with Little King!) but no supper, so at 10 pm I stopped at McDonalds and also nursed Krissa there since I'd missed her 9 pm feeding. She did great again on the car ride, slept the whole time. I arrived to my dad's house at midnight; Joe got there a little before 12:30. It was 1:30 am on Monday, August 15th (Krissa's official one month birthday!) by the time we went to bed so we were exhausted all day. I could not believe myself -- I woke up when Joe got up for work and could not fall back asleep. LOGAN WAS STILL AT SANDI'S -- ugh! Meaning, I could have slept off and on all day with Krissa, but no, instead I got ready and went over to my mom's to use the computer for the first time all week (which is how I wrote this post). I had lunch there and then picked up Logan from Sandi after his nap. Joe brought home Taco Bell for supper.
Our house went on the market that day so now we sit and wait. I'm nervous, but it's out of our hands now. . .
Tuesday, August 16th we had planned to just stay around my dad's house because it was dreary and rainy, but after I tried for an hour to attempt a third time at my dad's to get Logan to take a nap -- and failed -- we decided to go over to my mom's again. He wet the bed (he's been wearing underwear for naps ever since his preschool told me the end of June that they'd been doing that for quite awhile, and stopped wearing overnight diapers at night in mid-July; since then he wears just pull ups at night). After we got him cleaned up we we went to my dad's where I put Stoffer's lasagna and breadsticks in the oven for supper.
Wednesday and Thursday, August 17th and 18th, my mom & stepdad actually went to Omaha because that's where their dentist is, so they were able to pick up Krissa's newborn photos and announcements!!!! I purchased the CD with the entire gallery so I will post them on our photo site next chance I get. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, I attempted one final time to put Logan down for a nap at my dad's house and, since he never went to sleep, I have decided that from now on we will be going to my mom's house every day for nap time until we move into our new house!
I just did laundry while Logan played; earlier we'd met Joe for lunch at a Mexican restaurant (our first time for taking both kids out to eat; thankfully it went flawlessly), and had leftovers for supper. On Thursday I went to the grocery store while Logan took his nap at my mom's. More leftovers for supper.
Today, Friday, August 19th is my 19th anniversary with my bff Sarah! :-) (I wrote a post summarizing our friendship on my old blog in Nov 2009, Have A Happy Thanksgiving!)
Anyway, as you can see, our days have kind of just been a cycle since we've been here. . .just trying to make it through until our house is done and we can get ourselves settled. So far my dad has been at his house every day (Joe and I laugh about it now because he has said ever since Sunday the 7th that "tomorrow" he is leaving for my stepmom's in Michigan for the remainder of our weeks here. . .but he is still here); maybe once he goes then we can relax more. (Well, one of us isn't having any problems relaxing) :-)
As for random things. . .
I made Krissa's two month appt. with her new pediatrician here; it will be on September 21st at 3:30 pm (she'll actually be 9.5/almost 10 weeks old).
The explosive diapers have begun. I remember these from Logan :( Speaking of diapers, just like with Logan I had to stop using Pampers (both times I started with that brand of diaper because it's what the hospital uses) because it caused the only diaper rash Logan ever had as a baby and it did for Krissa, too. So I've been using Huggies (Naturals) the past week and there's been no more diaper rash. Thus, Huggies is my brand of choice yet again.
Since we've all been sleeping in the same room, we hear Logan talking in his sleep every night. One night he said, "No, I don't want to poop!" Joe thought he was awake and said groggily, "You can go, it's alright." I was already awake, nursing Krissa, so both of us laughed when we realized Logan was sound asleep. Now that I think about it, that's ironic that a day or two later is when he had his constipation. . .Last night he cried out "Cosmo, don't eat my bagel!" LOL. Meanwhile, Krissa still grunts constantly -- even while sleeping.
When Logan was born his feet looked weird but they soon grew normal. Krissa's weird part were her ears but now they look normal, too, although we're not sure whose they are. I think she has my hands. . .maybe. . .everything is still too hard to tell yet.
I forgot to mention a funny thing that Joe and I repeat from Diane, the grandmotherly nurse that I had in the hospital. Whenever Krissa would cry, Diane would say "She's just telling a story, girls always have a story to tell." Haha. So now Joe always says that when Krissa cries. We had a phrase from one of my nurses after I had Logan, too, only it was in regards to breastfeeding. She'd say to put him on like he was eating a hamburger. So she'd exclaim, "Hamburger!" when latching him. This left Joe and I in hysterics, but even now when he sees Krissa latch on he'll say, "Hamburger!" Too funny.
When Logan was a baby I could only cut like one of his fingernails a day because babies flinch and flail when it's done (or at least both of my kids!). . .I had been doing all of them at a time with Krissa, until I cut my poor baby one day :( so now it's just one a day.
She continues to roll over every now and then; I've lost count. During her third week she could stand if I held her in that position, and one day she was mad when I did it and her legs walked toward me! She's going to be able to hold her own with Logan in the strength department :-)
It is really cute to see her smile at Logan already; she really likes watching him the way that he used to like watching the dogs!
During the rare moments these days when I can pause, I really AM excited to have moved back! Everywhere I go there is Iowa State University stuff (where Joe & I went to college) -- it is fun after 8 years of only seeing Nebraska Cornhusker paraphernalia! It feels so right to be here, driving around the old areas that I used to drive through. . .honestly, though, it doesn't feel like I'm really LIVING here yet -- just that I'm visiting for a long time! I'm sure eventually it will sink in.
I think about a year ago when we took Logan to the Iowa State Fair and Adventureland (August 13 & 14) to see the sites where we grew up. We never would have imagined that a year later we'd be living here again and that it would be the place that HE would grow up! I do remember wondering if I'd have a baby by this time, though. . .yep, Krissa turned five weeks old today! (I'll end with this picture I took of her on Thursday - my fav of Krissa so far!)
She is so beautiful! Good luck with the whole moving process.
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