This Blog Is Moving

In an effort to simplify my life I'm moving all my blogs to a central log in. All of the posts from this blog will still be on new site, but future posts will only be on my new blog. Come check it out and subscribe/follow at Life As Sean & Andrew's Mom

Give It A Shot

After months of being on blogging hiatus, I'm going to give it a shot now that I have my new tablet. With baby Andrew on the verge of cruising and trying to homeschool Sean and keep him busy, finding time to sit in front of my PC to blog, has been near impossible.

So here goes... Christmas is just days away and I still have TONS of wrapping to do. It's amazing how different this year will be. First of all having two children, but also how differently Michael and I have treated buying stuff for our second child.

With Sean, you could hardly see him in the see of presents and after the second gift he was done tearing paper off the gifts. We only bought a couple for Andrew knowing better this time around. Instead I'm putting more effort into the wrapping, since that is likely going to be the source of Andrew's joy and entertainment. I'm going to be putting big shiney bows on everything for him to play with.

Sean has gotten to an age where is gifts are more pricey so we don't have to worry about the mountain anymore.

You Must Have So Much Time On Your Hands!

I don't know why people who work think stay at home moms have SO much time on their hands. I think I've worked harder and longer hours in the last 9 months than in the last 15 years at a paying job.

Now granted I am homeschooling my oldest son and I have a 9 month old baby. I am literally working 24/7! I get up most mornings between 6-7am and start the Multitasking Olympics of getting myself and my two boys up, fed and dressed. By 9am the three of us are dressed, fed, and ready to start the day... I've probably done the dishes, some laundry, picked up stuff around the house, etc. Then we start school. Do you have any idea the under taking teaching your own child while caring for a baby is? One word... INSANE!

So as midnight quickly approaches... I debate whether to do more laundry or do absolutely nothing on the couch :s

31st Fort Worth International Taekwondo Championship

Sean competed for the first time since he was 5 and new to Taekwondo. He sparred against a national champion in his division that's been competing for the last 2 years, and his parents are a sparring and forms coach. When the first round ended Sean was down 1-5, and finished the second round 6-11. He managed to gain 5 more points and walked away with 3rd place.

We are SO proud of him. He will be competing alot next year because he wants to go to Nationals in the summer, which will be held in Dallas for the first time. His goal is to come home with a gold medal. He will have to train hard, because next year he will likely be competing as a red belt.

Update on Andrew

Well it's been 2-1/2 months since I've blogged, but if you're following me on Facebook you get a glimpse of day to day life around here. Andrew is sitting up and he's on the verge of crawling. Boy is life going to change when that happens. He's eating 3 jars of food a day and still pretty much sleeping through the night. Here is a picture of the bundle of cuteness from today...

Plastic Bag Holders

My friend Kimberly shared this post and thought it was a brilliant idea. Now I have something to do with all those empty wet wipes containers, instead of just throwing them in the recycle bin.

http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2011/07/summer-social-guest-project-make_21.html?m=1

LOVE This Picture

I LOVE this picture of Andrew. He has the prettiest eyes. I have no idea how both my boys ended up with LONG lashes. I'm sure if I had girls they wouldn't be as long as these are.

Beating the Heat in Texas

The past couple of years we've been getting season passes to our local water park and every weekend we'd spend the day there so Sean could swim and play. Since this year we have Andrew and he's too young to put in the water and it's too hot to even hang out in the shade we decided to get what my husband calls a "white trash" pool. It's been great having it, because Sean can swim whenever and because it's smaller than an in ground pool would be the sun heats it up so it feels like a warm bath... perfect for Andrew.

Andrew's First Solid Meal

It's hard to believe Andrew is old enough to start trying solid foods. I'm doing Super Baby Food again, just like with Sean. So what's Andrew's first food... avocados. We tried it a couple weeks ago and I don't think he's quite ready. He's still doing alot of tongue thrusting so I'll try again in a week.

Sleep Schedule

Day 6 of "sleep training" and Andrew figured it out after the first day. It's been SO much easier getting things done and planned around here. The best part has been that he's not terribly rigid about the schedule so a little deviation doesn't ruin the whole day, which is great if we want to do something.

Family Schedule

There is something to be said about having your family (at least the kiddos) on a schedule. Having worked for years in corporate America and being used to schedules and deadlines it helps me manage... well, LIFE. Now that I'm staying home and my "job" is solely to run this household and raise two boys, I've found putting together a schedule to be the key to my sanity.


Andrew has hit the 4 month mark and it is now physiologically appropriate to start sleep training to get him, Sean and myself on a schedule. So the next three weeks will be "lock down" around here, trying NOT to deviate from the schedule.


Day 1 (yesterday) - required the dreaded {Crying It Out} for Andrew to get on a nap schedule. I found it much easier to deal with for nap time since it was only for a 2 hour period. I used the same methodology as night time {Crying It Out}. However, after the nap time window was over, I would wake Andrew up and keep him up til the next scheduled nap time.


The morning nap was horrible. He slept for about 25-30 minutes and cried the remaining hour and a half. When the time was up, I picked him up, went through the usual "get ready for the day" routine and kept him up. I wanted him to be tired for nap time number 2 in the afternoon.


Afternoon nap went a little better. He slept for the first 30 minutes, cried for about an hour and finally put himself back to sleep. Again when the nap time window was over, I woke him up and we did stuff to keep him up.


By Andrew's usual bedtime routine he was exhausted. Once we hit the recliner for his before bed feeding he was ready. There wasn't a peep out of him when I put him in his bed. Drum roll please... he slept for SEVEN straight hours before waking up, ate, and went back to bed for another FOUR hours!!!

Day 2 - Andrew caught on quick... I got up at 6:30am to get Andrew fed and myself showered and ready. Morning nap was a family nap time because everyone in the house was feeling a little under the weather. Andrew from allergies and his 4 month shots yesterday. Sean from his allergies. Daddy from a bad sunburn and working late. Mommy from her allergies. Needless to say this was an easy nap time for Andrew, because he's going to be that kid that says "Oh, you're sleeping. Okay, I'll lay down and sleep with you."

I was worried that family nap with Andrew would set us back, but NOPE... this afternoon he cried for FIVE minutes and went to sleep. If he woke up he would scream, but he was only partially awake and was upset because he lost his binky. Since he's still too young to look for it, grab it and put it back in his mouth I have to help out a little with that. His other comfort item has turned out to be the burp clothes (cloth diapers) that I use when I nurse him (yes, we've developed another child with Wubbies - Sean's were white washcloths).

Even though it's only the second day, the great thing I've found about doing the nap time sleep training first is it allows me time to get chores done and start spending more time with Sean again. With Sean starting homeschooling at the end of the month it will be important to have both of them on a schedule.

Going this route for sleep training has kept me from feeling like a horrible mom (and being a sleep deprived one), since I know the crying is only for a fixed amount of time. Hopefully by the end of the week I can count this as a victory :)

Homemade Instant Oatmeal

This weekend Sean wanted oatmeal for breakfast, but I was still sleeping. I heard Michael and Sean trying to find instant oatmeal and Michael told Sean that whenever he tries to make the old fashioned Quaker stuff he messes it up. So viola... in an effort to make it easier for Michael (yes, he's getting spoiled now that I'm a SAHM) and to teach Sean to make it himself, I premade containers. These handy 1/2c Rubbermaid containers (which were things I used when I made Sean's homemade baby foods years ago) were perfect. I explained to Sean all he had to do was get a bowl, empty the contents into it and fill the small container twice with water. He knows how to use the microwave (thanks to St. James Montessori), so he just pops it in himself for 2-1/2 minutes and it's done!! I even added the amount of sugar I normally add for Sean so he doesn't sugar it himself. This is a great way to get your kiddo to eat a healthy breakfast and teach them some independence.

Summer Reading Programs - DFW Mama DFW Mama

This is a post from one of my friends on Summer Reading Programs for your little ones. It's easy to slack off during the summer and this is a great way to keep your kiddos engaged in learning.

Summer Reading Programs - DFW Mama DFW Mama

Manual Labor - Fixing The Fence

Due to the series of storms that blew through the DFW area a section of our fence was blown down. As a result Michael decided to replace several of the posts on the 100+ feet section of the fence. Michael spent about 8 hours working on it with the help of Aaron (family friend), Papa, and of coarse Sean. Helping with home improvement projects has become one of Sean's favorite things to do with his dad. Every project Michael starts, Sean will ask every day if they are going to work some more on it. The flower bed retaining wall is completed and I just need to get pictures of the great job the boys did. Now we just need to fill it with soil and plants.

More Eczema Drama

(Andrew's eczema)

Even though Andrew's eczema cleared up significantly after figuring out it was caused by the old bassinet mattress, I was still concerned about the raw broken skin behind his knees. I have been holding off using the antibiotic the pediatrician gave me, but I decided to give it to him the beginning of the weekend. Since I'm not a big medicine person, I had completely forgotten to give it to him the 3x per day as prescribed. So I gave the second dose on Sunday morning with the intention of setting reminders on my cell phone so I wouldn't forget. Later that afternoon when I was changing his clothes I noticed he was broken out all over his torso and as the day went on it was all over him. I've concluded that Andrew is allergic to Penicillin. Thank God I didn't give him another dose. Who knows what kind of reaction he would have had. And wouldn't you know... his skin cleared up again after 24 hours.

Eczema Mystery Solved!!!

Poor Andrew has been suffering from some pretty bad eczema the last couple months. With the Texas heat coming in full force it's done nothing to help the situation. He started to develop breaks in the skin behind his knees because of the moisturizer we have to keep applying and sweating from the heat.

Out of concern he would contract a secondary infection I took him to his pediatrician yesterday. True to form the doctor wanted to give him oral antibiotics to treat him in case he has a secondary infection (uuuuuu... not giving that to him if he can't confirm there's an infection). He also gave us a steroid cream. I'm not fond of medications, especially steroids for infants/children. However, I was willing to use it til it improved then use an over the counter cream to finish it off. This was all going to be temporary until I figured out the what was causing the reaction.

When I got home from the doctor I had to feed Andrew and I started going through every allergen he could come in contact with. We already use free and clear detergent for the family and I cut dairy from my diet. I was going to do wheat next. As Andrew nursed I was looking at him trying to figure out what could cause it ALL over his body. He wasn't congested so it couldn't be triggered by "hay fever". Then it hit me... maybe DUST MITES!!! We keep our mattress in one of those expensive mattress covers because of Sean's allergies. It was then that I realized we NEVER bought a new mattress for the bassinet, because Sean's was still in it and he only used it for 6 months. However, I realized it had been stored in the bassinet in our attic for the last few years. Who knows what the condition of the inner material. It could be breaking down or be full of dust mites. So off to the store I went to buy a new mattress. When I got home just comparing the appearance of the new to the old was obvious.

By the time I got home it was time for bath and bedtime. So I reluctantly applied the steroid cream behind his knees and put him to bed on his new mattress and clean sheets. This morning when he woke up and I was changing his diaper I checked out his skin. What an improvement!!! I sat down to nurse him and like I do countless times per day I just gazed down at him adoringly. Then I started to check his face and then noticed that the skin behind his ears weren't irritated and peeling from his eczema. I thought, wow that cream really... WAIT!!! I was told I couldn't use it on his face. So if I didn't put it on his face, that means it improved because I got rid of the old mattress.

Finally Andrew is on the mend and he's getting his beautiful baby soft skin!!! As for the steroid cream... I'll keep it around IF I need it, but for now it's put away hopefully to never be used again.

First Lost Tooth

A couple weeks ago when Sean was eating he complained that his teeth hurt. That's when we discovered he finally had a loose tooth. Over these past few days he kept asking if we wanted to see it and he would show us how it was getting more loose. I had been helping him brush his teeth for the last week because he hadn't been brushing his front teeth well (he had hurt his the area around his tooth a couple times). This morning I was brushing his teeth and he yelled "Ow!!" He went to rinse his mouth out and there was blood. We told him to pull the tooth out because it was ready, but he refused. I got a washcloth and told him that I was going to soak up the blood in his mouth, because it would make him sick to his stomach. The first couple times he'd barely let me touch his tooth. Then I finally convinced him that I just needed to hold some pressure on it to stop the bleeding. I had a good hold of it, so when he jerked away the last time I had his tooth, but he didn't realize it yet. Then Michael told him to look in the mirror. Sean turned to me and asked if I had it and I slowly opened the washcloth. So tonight Sean will get his first visit from the tooth fairy.

Catching Up - Andrew's First Easter

We celebrated Easter at Nana & Papa's house like we do every year. The bigger kids hunted 100's of eggs in the backyard. Hard to believe next year Andrew will be among them.

Couponing

In an effort to save as much money as possible, my new obsession has become couponing. Thanks to the show Extreme Couponing (on TLC Wednesdays at 8pm CST) I've learned a few things on getting the most bag for my buck. I highly recommend checking out it. Here is a website for one of the ladies featured in the show:
The Krazy Coupon Lady
She breaks it down for you on her site and gives ALOT of resources. I've gotten a few of my friends hooked on the show and starting the couponing craze!!

I was so excited yesterday that I got a tub of Pampers baby wipes for $1.50 at Albertsons. I also scored FREE Ivory soap because of a sale and my coupons. FREE is good!!!

I told Michael that any money that was left over from the grocery budget at the end of the month because of my couponing was going into our savings. My GOAL... to only use $100 of our allotted budget every month. I'm trying to get THAT good at the couponing. Who couldn't use more money in their savings account these days?

AirExpo 2011

Michael took Sean to the air show in Fort Worth Sunday. Right before they were getting ready to leave I suggested to Sean that he wear his pilot costume from Halloween. He looks like he belongs in the chopper!! He had a really good time and got the opportunity to see the Blue Angels fly. I wish I could have been there to share that with him. The air shows bring back such great memories from my childhood.