Growing up a tomboy, I never thought I'd "enjoy" raising a girly girl. I just thought my daughter would follow in my footsteps and grow up loving jeans, t-shirts and dirt. I have changed my ways to be more feminine so I guess she caught on to that, but she's just such a girl all on her own.
One of her "rewards" for sleeping out of mommy and daddy's bed the first night was I'd paint her nails and toenails (this really excited her). I only have two things of nailpolish - pink and purple. It HAD to be pink. I haven't painted nails in years, but it was good enough for her and she is STILL proudly showing off her pink nails. She's very careful to keep them clean.
I should mention my daughter also loves dresses, but they have to be pink. This recently carried over onto ALL clothing. If her clothes don't have pink on them, she doesn't want to wear them. Oh, there is one exception: if her clothes have a kitty cat on them, but no pink, it's ok.
Then today we had to take a trip to meijers to get a few things. On my list was new sippy cups. I was trying to decide which ones I'd buy when my daughter caught sight of a pink sippy cup in a package with a green one and decided we HAD to have them. I asked my son if he'd like the green one and he emphatically agreed. It was a sippy that changes color with cold liquid in it - it goes to purple. Imagine my daughters surprise when I filled the sippy up and it was no longer pink! She held it for a while and the warmth of her hands turned small parts pink again and she was sooooo happy - she had to show everyone that there was pink again. She also told us she'd like warm water in her sippy cup so it wouldn't turn it colors.
Pink. That's all my daughter can think about. I think it's adorable. It leads to some wars, because everything in life just can't be pink or her way, but she makes it easy to know how to please her and reward her if we decide to do something special!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Getting the kids out of our bed, Pt 1 - Going To Sleep On Their Own
My husband has been super accepting since our first was born. My daughter who is about 3.5 has been sleeping with us for at least half the night ever since she was born. My son has also joined our bed, he's about 18 mos but coslept as an infant, slept fine alone in his crib, then once in the toddler bed he started coming into our room. We set up a nest for him on the floor and he slept fine on there 'till a few months ago when he decided he, too needed to be in bed with us.
I love the family bed, but the bed is getting very cramped. With another baby due soon who will be nursing and cosleeping, we have to get the older kids out of the bed. When I'd try to get the kids back in their own bed (which I've tried on and off for the past year or more!) it ends up in a crying, screaming, sobbing ordeal and I am not willing to let them "cry it out" especially when it's been a way of life for them for so long. I am understanding and realise this is a big change, and they need the comfort and security of mom and dad even more so now, because they don't get our comfort and security as they sleep with us anymore.
So I am taking gradual steps and hope to have this complete by the time #3 gets here. My first order of business: Getting the kids to go to sleep on their own. I used to rock them, and I loved it. It was usually the only quiet time we got to really cuddle during the day. However, with my growing belly and their growing bodies, rocking them was no longer possible and was becoming very painful.
For the past week, I've found a successful way for them to fall asleep with no tears, and no rocking. I make it a point to have cuddle time with them during the day, and find that the kids are more receptive to cuddling during the day, but show now "side effects" as a result of loosing the mommy and rocking time in the evenings (they aren't extra clingy or anything... which I did wonder about).
I put the rocking chair in their bedroom. We pray together, the kids lay in their beds and I rock in the corner of their room, alone, while reading. They're usually asleep within 15 minutes. The first night I had trouble with them wanting to play and get out of bed, my daughter wanted "mommy hair" and to be rocked, the second night my son was the one trying to get out of bed for rocking. By the third night, both kids knew what was going on and since then going to bed has been a breeze. No tears, no struggles. And, I've been able to read through two books I've been really wanting to read lately!
I think the reason my daughter is more receptive now than she's ever been is simply because she's at the age where I can hold an actual conversation that she will retain. Before we reached this point, getting her out of our bed, or even going to sleep on her own for that matter, seemed hopeless without a struggle. I know some parents don't have a problem with crying it out, and some think it's good for kids, etc. but I don't and wont go that route when it comes to bedtime. My daughter and I had a really long conversation the day be we began having her go to sleep on her own and talked about sleeping in he bed. She asked questions about the conversation all day, giving me a chance to revisit it. At night, she remembered what was going on and she was prepared.
SO that was the first step... Getting the kids to first fall asleep on their own without needing mommy to rock them. I'd imagine I could probably put the kids in bed and walk out without having to rock in their room, but I really enjoy the time I now have to read. I spend this time reading the stack of Christian books I've been meaning to get to - spending time with God, writing notes in my notebook, praying, etc. I can also picture this time preparing lesson plans for the kids as we begin homeschooling more in depth, or writing the skeleton and notes of future publications, or whatever.
We've had two nights without kids in our bed. They did end up in our room, but on the floor on their nests (and I'll discuss progress with this in my next post). my husband agreed that they can still come into our room, they just cannot come into our bed. So, as we get past this shock I'll gradually start encouraging them back to their own beds. and my goal is to have them sleeping in their beds all night before the baby gets here. They may not sleep through the night for whatever reason, but I want them to feel comfortable enough to go back to their own beds to resume sleep. Or even better, wake in their beds and be able to put themselves back to sleep without getting up. Who knows.
I love the family bed, but the bed is getting very cramped. With another baby due soon who will be nursing and cosleeping, we have to get the older kids out of the bed. When I'd try to get the kids back in their own bed (which I've tried on and off for the past year or more!) it ends up in a crying, screaming, sobbing ordeal and I am not willing to let them "cry it out" especially when it's been a way of life for them for so long. I am understanding and realise this is a big change, and they need the comfort and security of mom and dad even more so now, because they don't get our comfort and security as they sleep with us anymore.
So I am taking gradual steps and hope to have this complete by the time #3 gets here. My first order of business: Getting the kids to go to sleep on their own. I used to rock them, and I loved it. It was usually the only quiet time we got to really cuddle during the day. However, with my growing belly and their growing bodies, rocking them was no longer possible and was becoming very painful.
For the past week, I've found a successful way for them to fall asleep with no tears, and no rocking. I make it a point to have cuddle time with them during the day, and find that the kids are more receptive to cuddling during the day, but show now "side effects" as a result of loosing the mommy and rocking time in the evenings (they aren't extra clingy or anything... which I did wonder about).
I put the rocking chair in their bedroom. We pray together, the kids lay in their beds and I rock in the corner of their room, alone, while reading. They're usually asleep within 15 minutes. The first night I had trouble with them wanting to play and get out of bed, my daughter wanted "mommy hair" and to be rocked, the second night my son was the one trying to get out of bed for rocking. By the third night, both kids knew what was going on and since then going to bed has been a breeze. No tears, no struggles. And, I've been able to read through two books I've been really wanting to read lately!
I think the reason my daughter is more receptive now than she's ever been is simply because she's at the age where I can hold an actual conversation that she will retain. Before we reached this point, getting her out of our bed, or even going to sleep on her own for that matter, seemed hopeless without a struggle. I know some parents don't have a problem with crying it out, and some think it's good for kids, etc. but I don't and wont go that route when it comes to bedtime. My daughter and I had a really long conversation the day be we began having her go to sleep on her own and talked about sleeping in he bed. She asked questions about the conversation all day, giving me a chance to revisit it. At night, she remembered what was going on and she was prepared.
SO that was the first step... Getting the kids to first fall asleep on their own without needing mommy to rock them. I'd imagine I could probably put the kids in bed and walk out without having to rock in their room, but I really enjoy the time I now have to read. I spend this time reading the stack of Christian books I've been meaning to get to - spending time with God, writing notes in my notebook, praying, etc. I can also picture this time preparing lesson plans for the kids as we begin homeschooling more in depth, or writing the skeleton and notes of future publications, or whatever.
We've had two nights without kids in our bed. They did end up in our room, but on the floor on their nests (and I'll discuss progress with this in my next post). my husband agreed that they can still come into our room, they just cannot come into our bed. So, as we get past this shock I'll gradually start encouraging them back to their own beds. and my goal is to have them sleeping in their beds all night before the baby gets here. They may not sleep through the night for whatever reason, but I want them to feel comfortable enough to go back to their own beds to resume sleep. Or even better, wake in their beds and be able to put themselves back to sleep without getting up. Who knows.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Nope, I haven't forgotten about my blog...
I've just been uber busy!
Let's see... For the past month or two I have been finishing up "The Cloth Diapering Handbook", I have revised "Diaper Maps," and wrote a new book called "Frugal Cloth Diapering." I am preparing a homebirth book for children which will be available for free on my store's website (www.motherhoodnaturally.com/store) I'll be releasing a cloth diapering curriculum kit hopefully before our third baby arrives mid August. Once I get that and the homebirth book for children done, I'll feel complete and ready to give birth. LOL. The curriculum has kept me busy for over a year and I just keep finding ways to add and perfect it. I gotta get things in line, baby's gonna be here soon!
My garden has been showering us with tons of green beans for a while now. I actually froze what I just picked today - we can't keep up and I'm NOT going to let a single bean go to waste. The Lord has blessed us in so many ways, I am not about to let a blessing go to waste. I picked our first beets yesterday, and the kids and I enjoyed our first carrot last week! The tomatoes are starting to turn color, sunflowers are blooming, jalepeno's are nearly ready, squash and zucchini are growing, and green peppers are doing well. I killed my peas... My husband said I watered them too much. I feel bad - they were my daughters FAVORITE thing to eat. I planted more this week... We'll see if I can get more peas before it gets too cold!
My husband and I are both getting certified to teach CPR classes soon. I think it'll benefit my childbirth classes to be able to teach my students infant/child and adult cpr if requested, and my husband thinks it might be neat for the both of us to pair up and do some cpr classes. We'll have to see how it goes - with the new baby coming, and us beginning Alexis in preschool at home in the fall, my hands are going to be very full. I've already decided after the baby is born I am done teaching 2+ series classes for an undetermined amount of time. Single classes will still happen occasionally. My writing will continue, as that is something I do out of enjoyment when the kids are sleeping (however, getting everyone synchronized to sleep at the same time may be a challenge for a while!) and it is the main way I help supplement my husbands income. With gas prices the way they are, and him having to drive 120 miles to work each day (when he can't take the motorcycle for weather or other reasons) we've noticed a big problem with income. I need to do all I can to help!
Luckily, "all I can do" is mostly at home! When we start harvesting all of the produce the garden will be producing we will be saving a lot on our grocery bill. I am so excited and thankful for that. I've perfected my bread recipes to the point that my husband finally prefers mine over storebought (and it took a while to get there!). I need to clean our our deep freezer to make room for bread, frozen meals for after the baby is born and our garden yummies.
We are getting ready for baby. I've pulled out all of the clothing, I have onesies, socks, diapers and covers all ready to go. Sleepers and outfits are folded and put away. My birth kit arrived (we're planning a homebirth with the same wonderful midwives who delivered my son at home). I am gathering other supplies I'll need for the birth. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl and I am starting to get very anxious to find out! I can imagine what a thrill it will be to find out the sex when the baby is born!
I'll do more later... There has been So much going on here, but now I'm listening to a food preservation conference call taking notes... So... I'll be back later!
Let's see... For the past month or two I have been finishing up "The Cloth Diapering Handbook", I have revised "Diaper Maps," and wrote a new book called "Frugal Cloth Diapering." I am preparing a homebirth book for children which will be available for free on my store's website (www.motherhoodnaturally.com/store) I'll be releasing a cloth diapering curriculum kit hopefully before our third baby arrives mid August. Once I get that and the homebirth book for children done, I'll feel complete and ready to give birth. LOL. The curriculum has kept me busy for over a year and I just keep finding ways to add and perfect it. I gotta get things in line, baby's gonna be here soon!
My garden has been showering us with tons of green beans for a while now. I actually froze what I just picked today - we can't keep up and I'm NOT going to let a single bean go to waste. The Lord has blessed us in so many ways, I am not about to let a blessing go to waste. I picked our first beets yesterday, and the kids and I enjoyed our first carrot last week! The tomatoes are starting to turn color, sunflowers are blooming, jalepeno's are nearly ready, squash and zucchini are growing, and green peppers are doing well. I killed my peas... My husband said I watered them too much. I feel bad - they were my daughters FAVORITE thing to eat. I planted more this week... We'll see if I can get more peas before it gets too cold!
My husband and I are both getting certified to teach CPR classes soon. I think it'll benefit my childbirth classes to be able to teach my students infant/child and adult cpr if requested, and my husband thinks it might be neat for the both of us to pair up and do some cpr classes. We'll have to see how it goes - with the new baby coming, and us beginning Alexis in preschool at home in the fall, my hands are going to be very full. I've already decided after the baby is born I am done teaching 2+ series classes for an undetermined amount of time. Single classes will still happen occasionally. My writing will continue, as that is something I do out of enjoyment when the kids are sleeping (however, getting everyone synchronized to sleep at the same time may be a challenge for a while!) and it is the main way I help supplement my husbands income. With gas prices the way they are, and him having to drive 120 miles to work each day (when he can't take the motorcycle for weather or other reasons) we've noticed a big problem with income. I need to do all I can to help!
Luckily, "all I can do" is mostly at home! When we start harvesting all of the produce the garden will be producing we will be saving a lot on our grocery bill. I am so excited and thankful for that. I've perfected my bread recipes to the point that my husband finally prefers mine over storebought (and it took a while to get there!). I need to clean our our deep freezer to make room for bread, frozen meals for after the baby is born and our garden yummies.
We are getting ready for baby. I've pulled out all of the clothing, I have onesies, socks, diapers and covers all ready to go. Sleepers and outfits are folded and put away. My birth kit arrived (we're planning a homebirth with the same wonderful midwives who delivered my son at home). I am gathering other supplies I'll need for the birth. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl and I am starting to get very anxious to find out! I can imagine what a thrill it will be to find out the sex when the baby is born!
I'll do more later... There has been So much going on here, but now I'm listening to a food preservation conference call taking notes... So... I'll be back later!
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