Thursday 31 January 2013

Nappy Bum.

Posted by Unknown at 14:57:00 0 comments

Before having babies I never even thought about nappies, I just sort of assumed I would do what everyone did, and use disposable nappies(that is what everyone did, right?) cloth diapering never occurred to me.

Connor is one now and a I recently read that parents spend, on average, five hundred pounds on disposable nappies in the first year alone, and it was on hearing this fact I started to think about and look into using re-usable ones. I started my research and was surprised at, a) the amount of mamas I found using them, and b) the amount of different types of nappy there are, my research became a whole lot more complex on discovering that it wasn't as simple as some towelling and pinning! It seems that cloth diapering has moved on with the times and it was managing to keep up! The nappies are now easy to use, easy to clean, affordable, more so when buying in bulk, and also most of them grow with your child, giving parents a one off cost, more of an investment really.

After all my research and questions answered I decided I would try it, I chose a pocket nappy (where the inserts are put in and removed easily, this also means you can put as many inserts in as you deem necessary!) it came with one microfibre insert that I didn't feel would suffice so invested in some bamboo ones as well! I only ordered the one nappy to begin with, I didn't want to spend a small fortune for what was just a trial, for me and for Connor, I wasn't sure we would like using them or more to the point if I could handle it. To me cloth nappies brought up visions of piles of wet clothes and bedding from leaks and a great smelly mess that left me in far closer proximity to poo than I would like!

When I tried the nappy on Connor the first time he seemed unsure, a look came across his face as If to ask wether he was allowed to let himself go in this new luxurious bottom covering but he soon got used to it, and when it came time to change him again I was happy in finding a well used nappy with no leaks and and was still nice and dry inside, keeping him comfy. I am still to test this nappy with handling a number two, and the thought of using one when he has one of those days, you know the ones, were the contents of the nappy seemingly explodes and manages to cover the whole inside of their trousers, including their legs, socks and sometimes even travel up their back, the kind of ones that end up in a bath they are that bad! (Too much info? Sorry!) well that will be the true test for me, I need to know I can cope with that mess, but if it passes I will definitely be considering converting both boys to cloth nappies on a full time basis. And the best thing about them..? They are just so darn cute!

 

Wednesday 30 January 2013

Stress.

Posted by Unknown at 14:10:00 0 comments
There is a lot going on with us at the moment, not primarily with us but there are happenings in the family, both sides, that are bringing us both down.
It's not very often I talk about my relationship with my other half, father of my children and the man I am completely in love with, and I think it mainly has to do with the fact that we are usually so compatible we rarely fight about things, we disagree on a lot of things but never fight, we have similar principals and we want the same things out of life.
With all that is going on at the moment, I won't be sharing the details, they aren't my stories to tell, we have had a lot of pressure put on us as a couple, added pressure on top of a new born baby and a toddler and it is weighing us down somewhat. I say us but I think I mean me more so than him, he copes very well with stressful situations, he's the type of person that holds it all together, he holds me together when I feel like I might fall apart and somehow he manages to carry on as normally as is possible, this I am grateful for, he keeps a constant for the boys that I might not be able to if he wasn't such a strong person. I am feeling it though, a toddler who is still too young to understand much of anything and an on demand breastfeeding baby was hard work enough for me before all of what happened happened, now my exhaustion is added to by the constant whirling of my head trying to think up answers to extremely difficult questions being asked of us from family. Sometimes it just all gets on top of me and after a day alone with the boys, meeting all their needs and trying to meet mine at the same time I am emotionally exhausted and he is the only person I have to vent all my feelings too, there is a lot of them! And I know that I can end up taking it out on him, he needs deserves his down time as much as I need mine, I just need to try and let it go over my head instead of holding onto all this stress and anxiety before it gets too much and bubbles over.
Even when we have had our silly arguments we can't ever manage to stay mad at each other for long, within an hour we have calmed down and are talking again as if nothing happened, we can't hold grudges and keep our angry faces on when our first born is doing "Gangnam Style" in the middle of the room!
I think the key to all this is remembering that it's not forever, I won't be breastfeeding forever, the boys will, eventually, both sleep through the night, we will one day own our own home and all this other stuff along with the exhaustion and stress will pass, and in the long run I know it will have made us stronger. Whenever I feel like I'm going under and close to drowning, I have my very own flotation device in him! He always comes through for me and we are completely committed to each other, I don't think there is a bigger commitment to someone than having children with them, you are tied to them forever whether you like it or not! And I like it, I really like it, I love him.




Friday 25 January 2013

Let It Snow.

Posted by Unknown at 23:52:00 0 comments

Connor and Logan got their first experience of snow this year! Logan, being just a month old, is too young to know what is going on but Connor loved it! The morning it started he looked out of the window and his face was the picture of amazement, like he was seeing real life magic!

We took him for a walk in it and he had so much fun trudging through the fresh, fluffy snow covering the ground, making footprints as he waddled along, I say waddled and mean it literally, he was so layered up to keep toasty warm in the freezing cold that he could barely take a step!

After our little adventure around the block we were planning on making a snowman but by the time we got back he was too tired so we headed indoors for a hot chocolate and then it was time for a nap, Mr snowman would have to wait!

 

 

Thursday 24 January 2013

Giggles.

Posted by Unknown at 00:46:00 0 comments

I love his laugh, it's infectious! Out for lunch he was getting his feet tickled under the table! He had me and his daddy in tears! He really is a funny little guy. And Logan slept through the whole thing!

 

 

Saturday 19 January 2013

Connor...Gangnam Style!

Posted by Unknown at 20:09:00 5 comments

So here he is... My amazing little guy dancing to his fave song. Love it!

 

 

Thursday 17 January 2013

We Love to Boogie!

Posted by Unknown at 17:00:00 0 comments

Connor loves to dance, it started just after he started to walk, he would notice the music on a certain advert or tv program and casually start to bop. Just a little squat up and down to the beat. Now when he hears a tune he likes he will look over at me all coy, give me a cheesy, you know what I'm about to do kinda smile and start to dance. His moves have become more complex, starting with the tapping of one or both of his feet he will bop around waving his arms up and down and round and round. He is quite the showman, and he has everyone in stitches when they notice him dancing!

They run a "giddy dancers" club at the playgroup he goes to, it's eighteen months plus, but I explained to the organiser that he just loves to dance so I put him on the waiting list and as soon as a spot becomes available he will be able to boogie his little bottom off at a proper little dance class!

My little dancing Queen King!

P.S. I will upload a video of him actually throwing some shapes when he doesn't notice me recording him, he stops automatically when he does!

 

 

Monday 14 January 2013

Play Group.

Posted by Unknown at 11:49:00 0 comments

I have been looking for a parent and toddler group for a little while,I like the idea of Connor becoming more social with kids his age and size! He gets so excited when he sees another child he often becomes over boisterous and waves his arms, unintentionally hitting out. I also like the idea of it just being time for us, now Logan is here Connor doesn't get all of my attention all the time the way he did before and going to this group, whilst leaving baby at home with Daddy or Grandma, gives us the opportunity to have some proper one on one time.

The group we found is at a school around the corner from our house, perfectly within walking distance, and today was the first day I took him. He loved it! The excitement on his face when he walked into a room of different toys, activities and most all children for him to play with, he was in his element! He got on really well with the other toddlers, there was no trouble or tantrums, he was quite happy to potter about and look into what everyone else was getting up to and involving himself. It made me so ecstatic and proud to see my little boy enjoying himself so much and being so grown up. It was also nice for me to speak with other mums, we all have something in common and it makes them very easy to talk to and get along with.

I can't wait to take Connor back next week and I'm sure he can't wait to go again, I've even signed him up for a dance group, he has gone on the waiting list, and I am looking into taking him to some other groups held there. I am looking forward to making time for us a regular thing.

He had such a good time he has come home and crashed out on the couch!

 

Thursday 10 January 2013

Co-Sleep Doesn't Equal No Sleep.

Posted by Unknown at 20:28:00 3 comments

Being pregnant I enjoyed making up the crib with all fancy bedding ready for my little boy to come home and sleep in, however it didn't quite turn out that way. (See "The Family Bed") So Connor has was in and out of our bed for the whole first year of his life, he dictated when he slept in his or our room each night, most of the time it would be ours but it worked, we were comfy and, more importantly, well rested.

I was worried that when Logan was born and we moved Connor into his room on a more permanent basis that he would feel jealously or some kind of resentment towards Logan, wrong! He has slept in his own bed, in his own room every night, most of the time without even waking once, my clever little monkey! Now the crib is next to my bed again, to make feeding easier, however there are times when Logan does end up in bed with us for a couple of hours between feeds. And just like his brother before him it is when he is in with us he seems to sleep most sound.

There is a lot of controversy around bed sharing and obviously there are precautions to take, rules if you like, he wouldn't sleep with us if we smoked or had been drinking for example, and he doesn't share our quilt, he is swaddled in his own blankets, but I can't deny how natural and normal it feels for me to have him sleep next to me. Having a newborn is exhausting for any parent and sleepless nights are inevitable but when it is constant what do you do? I'm willing to bet that more people have taken their baby to bed than would admit to it, society really does put the creepers up people and makes it something to look down on. Even now I still feel judged and almost like I'm doing something wrong when I'm questioned about how or where baby sleeps, but people judge on the idea that everyone is the same and that simply is not the case. I'm not saying co sleeping is right for everyone but I'm not saying its wrong for everyone either and it's right for us, it just works. And if people are going to do it anyway, wether intentionally or not, is it not better that they are educated and do it safely rather than it be something they feel the need to hide and be ashamed of?

I love my boys completely and I love them being close, sleeping with them in our bed makes for a happy baby, therefor making a happy mummy and daddy equaling a happy family, and when the time comes, probably when I start weaning Logan off breast feeding or when he starts sleeping through the night, he will make the move to share Connors room with him and hopefully the transition will be as smooth as it was with my big baby, but it won't be before he is ready!

 

Boobies!

Posted by Unknown at 17:27:00 0 comments
I feel so lucky to be able to breastfeed my baby. Before I had the boys it had never even occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to, however when I became pregnant with Connor and the more I looked into feeding the more I found out about how much trouble some people have trying to do something that I, quite ignorantly really, just assumed would come naturally to everyone.

When Connor was born he didn't feed right away, he was a bit of a slow starter. He was born at 12:29 PM, we did all the normal, skin to skin and all that jazz but he would latch on and every time I thought we'd cracked it he would fall fast asleep and let go. I sought advice from the midwife who told me to just undress him and try skin to skin again, granted the ward was extremely busy but this was all the advice I was given. It wasn't until the early hours of the next morning, lying in my hospital bed, Connor in the crib next to me that I heard his little tummy grumbling and I knew he wasn't getting what he needed. I marched into the corridor of the ward, walked into the midwives office, and started to cry rather pathetically in the doorway telling anyone who would listen that I couldn't feed my baby! I felt ridiculous because I couldn't do what only I was supposed to be able to and feed Connor. One of the midwives followed me back to my bed, calmed me and suggested that she bottle feed him for now and I agreed, my little soldier must of been starving! Throughout the night I persisted with trying to get him to latch on and stay awake long enough to feed, and reluctantly he would take a few sucks at a time, nothing substantial so he needed the formula as a top up.

It was only when we came home that he started to get the hang of feeding off of me, he still had formula from time to time to top up his feeds but they soon diminished as my milk came in, and boy did it come in! It soon became unnecessary to give Connor anything else, I was all he needed! And no matter how exhausting it was to be doing all the feeding myself it felt amazing that I was the only one who could do it for him. And Logan had no problems! He latched straight on and hasn't been off much since truth be told.

I know compared to the trouble some women have with trying to feed their babies, this was nothing, but I also know just for that first couple of days how frustrating it was for me and how let down I felt with myself that I couldn't do it. I'm just so glad that I stuck with it and so lucky that I didn't encounter any huge problems and was able to feed my boys myself. I love how much it bonds us and the health benefits, for me and them, and the money it saves us on formula are just added pluses. So all that leaves to say is... Hooray for Boobies!

 

Monday 7 January 2013

Two Little Boys.

Posted by Unknown at 12:13:00 2 comments

So... Two weeks in, what's it like having a baby and a toddler?

I'm not going to lie, it's hard, not hard as in I'm not enjoying it, or that I regret any decisions we made, but hard as in, tiring and demanding, the things I expected but couldn't prepare myself for.

Because I'm breast feeding Logan he obviously has more of a need in me, but Connor still needs me too and sometimes it's hard to find a balance that suits everybody. This is where it has been really useful that Dane has had paternity leave, we can swap tasks with the boys so they each get a fair and even helping of both of us. He restarts work on Wednesday though and I'll be on my own with the boys, for an extended period, for the first time!

One of the things I think about most is how I can do the things I need to do that the kids can't be involved in, cooking, cleaning, even nipping to the loo! The thing is I can't yet trust Connor to be alone with Logan, he just doesn't understand and he can become quite heavy handed when he gets overexcited, which is most of the time when it comes to "Baba"! I think that bouncy chairs strategically placed around the house are going to be very useful.

I think the key to me not getting overwhelmed with everything that needs doing is to become more relaxed, the realisation that my house isn't going to be completely tidy all the time and the pots in the sink might have to wait till the morning will help me get the lads and myself into a routine I can cope with on my own. At the moment it feels like an achievement to have us all dressed and fed before lunchtime!

Even though its tough right now I know that every little bit older my boys get they get more independent and the easier everyday things will become. But at the moment I just want to enjoy them while they are still babies. Connor is amazing, it surprises me how much he learns just from us, he strokes Logan's hair so gently and smiles whenever he sees him, he watches me bath him and feed him and he even trys to put his dummy in for him and pushes the swing when he's in there, I really think Logan is so lucky to have such a fab big bro! And I am so lucky to have two amazing little boys!

Two, its a magic number!

P.S if you have any helpful tips as to how to handle two under two please comment, I would really appreciate it!

 

Friday 4 January 2013

New Years Eve.

Posted by Unknown at 12:31:00 0 comments

We didn't have any special plans for News Years this year, Dane had been working and was due back in again at five am, just in time to see most celebrations winding down! We spent the night at home, just the four of us, and it was lovely, we watched tv in our pyjamas and we a were in bed by eleven.

Even though we didn't go out anywhere or have a party it was one of the best New Years I have ever had, me and my three boys perfectly relaxed and happy to just be with each other, we didn't need anything else. It's strange because we were happy before, but since Logan our little family just feels complete, it's like we have never been without him.

We have so much to look forward to this year, Connor learns something new every day, and I'm so excited to see him turn two! We plan on having Logan christened, And we will have his first birthday, just before another Christmas! Dane and I will celebrate six years together and who knows what else could happen, plenty of adventures with our little men, hopefully. It'll be the first year in three I'm not expecting a baby, and even though I loved being pregnant and love my babies this really does excite me, to know ill be able to enjoy them completely!

Here's to 2013 I can't wait!

 

 

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