Wish I typed faster

I am sitting the living room of a dear friend in Naples FL while she sleeps (she works the night shift) and Miriam sleeps (sometimes I feel like she works the night shift too...), so I have to be quiet (not hard, I love the quiet) but I am uncertain of how much time I have.
I wish I typed as fast as my loving husband and thought on my feet b/c I would add to my 7 QTs but instead I will just write...

Miriam and I came down to Naples for a lil r&r on Thursday and stay ti Monday. It is GORGEOUS down here. I am so glad I took Mark seriously when he said "just go!" in early March. I needed to get away. Spend sometime w/old friends and just relax for a few days. I now understand when people say after you have a few kids, just dealing w/one is like a walk in the park. It also helps that God blessed us w/the most chill baby in the world. I love her to pieces and know that trip would not have been possible if her personality was different.

We went to the beach this morning. I love the beach. It had me looking forward to our first family beach vacation happening in late June. We will be traveling to Bethany Beach, DE and staying beachfront for a whole week! Miriam was a fan of the beach (see pics on FB or Instagram Cgruber14) of her in her swimsuit testing out the water. She was so chill about it and just sat there letting the water run over her legs.

I miss Mark and Juls and have gotten to chat briefly w/them. Juliana is so funny. She is going to be the life of the party when she gets older, wait...she already is the life of most parties.

Life gets busy but it's okay to take sometime for yourself, and it doesn't hurt when that time is in FL w/great friends and you get a tan! :)

Peace out!

7 Quick Takes (vol 4?) Saturday Edition

It's been a hard week... and I didn't think I had time or energy to do this but Mark too Sam and Juls w/him to work on friends house and Miriam is asleep. ::sigh::

1

This past week marked the 1 year anniversary of my dad passing from this life to the next. 

April 16th will forever be a day of sadness and peace in my heart. 

My dad and I on my wedding day. So blessed to have him there. 

 

 

He battled liver cancer for 3 1/2 years. Those were hard years but they were so full of joy too. He saw 3 of his kids get married, welcomed a new granddaughter into the family (and knew Miriam was on her way before he passed), was honored for his time and service in the City of College Park, and lived every moment as it was his last. He was a fighter. He was a pain in the rear end but there is not a day that goes by that I don't think of him and Thank God for the woman he (and mom) raised me to be. 

2

Speaking of my dad, Juls knew him and remembers him vividly. We also have pictures around the house and we visit the cemetery when we go to MD. The other day amid her playing she comes to me and says

"I going somewhere. I going to see Granpappy at the cemetery. I go visit him in Maryland."

Heart. Melting.

I believe that he was playing with her.

3

I spent most of the week switching out clothes in both the girls rooms and in my room. 

HOLY CLOTHES!!

We have been given bags of clothes from a neighbor and I am never one to turn down clothes but it's getting OUT OF CONTROL!

I have 11 bins of clothes from size newborn - 3T. This does not include all the clothes in their closets and dressers.

Beyond. I, the organizer, was completely overwhelmed trying to make some sense of all the clothes but I did have a "helper" who was unpacking and "trying on" all the clothes and another who was trying to eat everything w/in her reach. You figure out which one was which.

4

Although it was a tad warm this week, the clothes switching had to happen b/c Miriam and I are going to FLORIDA on Thursday to visit Jen and Martha!!!! Hello sunshine, warm weather, good friends and wine. I am 100% certain there will be wine. There better be wine (hint hint...I like white or blush. No red please)

5

Speaking of trips, it's less than a month til my Momma comes to visit. I miss my momma and can't wait to have her around. I am not thinking we will be doing much but her company is all I need. I wish we lived closer but you can't have it all!

6

So last Saturday we had a baby shower for my sis in law who is due in a couple weeks. This will be #14 on Mark's side so we got this shower thing down to a science! We are very practical people so the favor is always something you can use. This time another sis in law made washcloth cupcakes!

The washcloth cupcakes in the top left box. My fruit kabobs and the name banner I made for the shower and for them to keep. 

The picture above should be called Pinterest made me do it!

7

While writing I had some plain greek yogurt w/honey, strawberries and granola. I am not really a health nut but I am trying to not have so much fake sugar in my life and find different ways to get protein. It was okay. A little bit. Almost like sour cream but hopefully it will keep me full for longer than regular yogurt. I have no idea how people gain weight with small children. Every time I sit down to eat, someone needs something. I end up either not eating, taking small bites 10 minutes apart or having to wait til they are asleep. One day I will have a hot meal. But then I will miss their littleness. We can never be happy! 

Don't forget to check out Grace who is filling in for Jen  as they settle in at home w/her newest little man! 

Happy week all!

It's been a hard week

Currently Juliana is trying to convince me it's 3 o'clock and she can be done w/her nap. It's not 3, it's 1:59 and she can't tell time. She's 2...going on 15. She went down early today b/c it was a rough morning. And a rough day yesterday. Her attitude has been horrible this week and I am not sure why. She is constantly in trouble and is always pushing the limits, crossing the line and refusing to listen or follow rules. She is stuck in this terrible place of wanting to be a big kid but also wanting to be a baby.

I am sure potty training is a large part of her attitude. She is as stubborn as can be and will only cooperate when she wants to. If she's too busy, she will go in her pants. Then she is not allowed to do again whatever it was she was doing (playing outside, watching a show, etc) for awhile so (we hope) she will realize, you can never be too busy for the potty. Everyone is telling me this is normal b/c when she wants to cooperate, she is golden.

I have a hard time remembering a day when Juliana was not in trouble. And if it was just her having accidents that would be one thing, but her behavior is terrible. I feel like the worst parent in the world...I am the one that is with her the most. Is it me? Am I doing such a poor job parenting her that this is my fault? Is this a reflection of me? Mark and I were talking b/c I was concerned that it's b/c she isn't getting enough attention but we agreed that over 75% of our time is devoted to Juliana and the other 25% is split between Samantha and Miriam. We try to do nice things for her but w/her behavior being so bad, I don't want it to seem like we are rewarding her bad behavior.

I am going to FL in a couple days and I really need the break. I need some time w/just Miriam. I need some time w/my best friends. I need to relax. I honestly have no idea how people have more than 3 kids b/c I am beat. Done. Parenting is the hardest job in existence and it seems to only get harder as they get older. I will take a sweet nursing baby who grunts and moans and has explosive poops over a 2.5 year old any day.

Please don't get me wrong. I love Juliana more than I can explain, and she is sweet and caring and extremely bright. She is funny and so friendly but I need to know what to do to make the attitude and misbehavior less. I know it won't go away, but just lessen. Soon.

Potty Training Weekend

Well, we did it. We started potty training Juliana, and, it wasn't a complete disaster! :) I always sometimes get myself all worked up, over thinking the outcome of a situation before it occurs, so I tried to not think about it much until the day before.

I read a ton of different posts on Pinterest, BabyCenter.com, Parenting.com and many other places and had a mental checklist of things we were going to do.

-talk it up - we did this all week leading up to Potty Training weekend. She knew it was coming. I like to mentally prepare for things and I am not sure if she is the same but I wasn't going to chance it w/such a life changing event!

- Create a reward system - I bribe my children. I admit it. Usually it's w/a small treat such as chocolate milk, a "mom or dad" food (such as my favorite chips or Mark's Oreos), or a half hour of Mickey Mouse or Sesame Street. For Potty Training we used a Success Chart I found at the Target $1 section before Easter that has Sun-Saturday in columns w/stickers you can put on the days. This was a generic book that I deemed "Potty Training Success!" Every time she pees in the potty she gets to put a sticker on the day. Every time she poops she gets a sticker and a "special treat"! Her special treat was an apple sauce, squeezable fruit thingy. She  LOVES them but we don't get them all the time.
She also got an 'X' on that day if she went in her pants and not on the potty.

-switch to pull ups/underwear - When she woke up Saturday morning, she peed on the potty first try and I put a pull up on her. We have had these pull ups in the closet for months now b/c my husband had this INSANE idea that we should potty train Juli right on her 2nd birthday...I was 39 weeks pregnant!!! Yeah, that didn't happen! At that point I didn't care if she stayed in diapers til she was 5, there was no way I was potty training anything or anyone! So, she has been asking to wear them since then but I didn't want to put them on her and not actively be potty training. Confusion much? I think so! Also, we didn't switch to real underwear yet b/c, well, I don't have the patience or the time to clean up pee puddles. Oh, but when she does get her big girl underwear, she requested Mickey Mouse...

-Ask every 10 mins and put her on the potty every 30. Now, I can't say I was great at this b/c I was by myself for half the day and I had Miriam to tend to also.

-keep the liquids, fruit, veggies, yogurt, etc coming. If they aren't eating/drinking, they aren't going to need to go! 

So, how'd it all go?
Saturday - She got 6 stickers and 3 'X's...I was getting discouraged b/c I KNEW she had to poop but she wouldn't do it and finally ended up going in her pull-up.
Sunday - She got 7 stickers and 2 'X's and she POOPED ON THE POTTY...at my Sister in Laws house of all places. She also didn't wet her pullup at Church, in the car while driving all around today and told us she had to poop and then ACTUALLY did it!

It was alot easier today b/c Mark was around all day and could tend to her if I was feeding Miriam, cooking dinner, etc... But, I think she gets it. She likes to tell us that she is dry and loves when we are proud of her for doing a good job. We have a long road ahead of us and honestly, diapers would be easier at this point and we could easily turn back, but having only tossed 5 pull-ups and not changed one poopy diaper in 2 days (from Juls, not Miriam), is kinda nice. Plus, she's gotta do it sometime...

Hope you enjoyed hearing all about our crazy busy weekend. Oh, and Happy Spring!! :) It's finally WARM!!

Colleen

7 Quick Takes (vol 3)

Here, there and everywhere...

1

Life has been busy. I have been running from one place to the other, all week long! Really looking forward to Holy Week next week...I need to slow down and reflect on the amazing gift that Jesus gave us on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. 

2

Speaking of Jesus, have you been watching 'The Bible' mini-series on The History Channel? It's really good! I am a bit of a Catholic nerd and have grown to love the Bible so much more over the past 3 years of doing Bible studies at a local parish. You should check out the remaining 2 episodes, and catch up on the previous 3 (they rerun it all the time, might be on demand or online)

3

One of the many places I have been running is to doctors offices, both for myself and Miriam. I am finally getting some PT for my knee (old injury, had surgery in 2008 and it started to really bother me again while pregnant w/Miriam) and I had my hearing checked. I have never had good hearing. I ALWAYS failed the tests that the schools did but being the sixth of six, Momma didn't always react to our ailments the way other parents might. Oh, and we were poor so there wasn't an option for special docs and hearing aids. But, now my husband has talked me into (possibly) getting hearing aids. Super exciting.

4

Miss Miriam has been battling an eyelid inflammation for a month or so now and we finally got the right medicine to heal it! It's called Blepharitis and it was EXTREMELY bothersome to her, not to mention really ugly looking! But w/the correct eye lid cleaners (really, they do exist) and cream, it's 90% healed in a week! She is in much better spirits and is much happier (is that possible?)!

5

Last weekend I sent Mark to get the Eyelid Wipes from Walgreens and he took Juls w/him (yay, a few moments of peace and quiet...Miriam fell asleep while he was gone and I had a cup of coffee and read 7 Quick Takes... from last Friday). But when he came back 

he was like, "There was a great sale on the wipes!"

Me: "really? awesome! What was the sale?"

Mark: Well, you buy the eyelid wipes and you get 2 cans of cashews for regular price! 

Me: LOL! I was cracking up...

As Juli would say, Silly Goose, that's not a sale! :)

6

Miss Juliana is ready for potty training. Tear. She is a big girl and is showing all the signs:

-knows when she pees/poops and tells us

-doesn't like to sit in her pee/poop and asks to get changed

-can pull her pants up/down by herself

-asks to use the potty but just a few mins too late.

Can't believe she is almost 2 1/2 years old. Time is flying. We will do a potty training weekend the weekend after Easter. Prayers appreciated! Oh and advice! 

7

I am living out my dreams through our kids. Samantha starts gymnastics tomorrow. She is almost 10 and has been asking to do it for a while now. We finally worked w/her mom, figured out a time and set it up! She is excited and nervous all at once. She said she had a bad dream last night about the first class that I wasn't there, she had to wear Princess stuff (the horror!) bc we didn't have anything else, her mom didn't see the big deal about the Princess clothing (I would have said the same thing in real life)...

I always wanted to do gymnastics. I hope it goes well. She isn't terribly flexible, but if her heart is in the right place, she will have fun, do great and learn tons of new tricks!! Prayers for that too!!

Don't forget to check out Jen and all the others for 7 QTS of the week! 

HAPPY HOLY WEEK!

7 Quick Takes (vol 2)... That moment when

I try to live moment to moment but it's hard when I am a perpetual planner, hate spontaneity and feel panicked when things don't go as planned! My meek life as a Stay at Home Mom is filled w/"moments" planned and not but I often find myself thinking or saying out loud,

That Moment When:

~1~

You brew a cup of coffee. 

Life until that point was calm, no one had a poopy diaper, spilled their fruit on the floor, the baby was asleep, the phone wasn't ringing, life as we know it wasn't ending (or at least according to the two year old). But somehow, some way, as the last fresh, delicious drop of coffee is falling into the mug and, pardon my language, all hell breaks loose. Thus, you are stuck w/a cup of warm (not hot), close to room temperature coffee. Again.

~2~

You smell dinner cooking in the Crockpot.

It's the end of nap time. For some reason you toddler is crankier after nap than before, your 4th grader is due home any moment w/loads of homework and the babe is particularly fussy. And then, you smell it, DINNER wafting up the stairs!! Thank you Jesus for speaking to me this morning and telling me to cook dinner at 9am when all is good in the world and not at 4:30pm when everyone is cranky and waiting for Daddy to get home! 

~3~

School is cancelled for snow!

One of the perks of living in a cold weather state is snow days! Now, it pretty much snows all the time but will accumulate only to 2-3" at a time. However, this past Wednesday, Samantha had a snow day and to make it even better, Mark stayed home and played in the snow w/Sammy and Juls! They made a gigantic snowman

A view of our backyard in the morning

Sammy and Dad making a snowman

Mark is almost 6'2"...tall snowman! Love my little puffy pink Juls! :)

Finished product...it lasted 2 hours and then it fell over! The weather reached 42 degrees that day!

~4~

You read the word "maternity"...

and you think to yourself, or say out loud, Thank Gosh I am not pregnant anymore! If you've never been pregnant, you have no opinion on this matter. You have never been so big, bloated, uncomfortable, hot, tired and feeling like you are going to POP at any moment. I love my girls and I don't know if there are any more babies in my future but for the time being, I will enjoy the feeling of "normalcy" w/no person living inside of me! A few friends and my sister have just had babies w/in the past week, and I find myself thanking God for surviving that first month and know how happy they must be to have their baby in their arms and not in their bellies!

~5~

You ask (or are asked) to pray w/your spouse.

Lent is upon us and I am really trying to focus more on the prayer aspect of Prayer. Fasting. Almsgiving. But, lets be honest, I like to pray in a church, by myself, in front of the Eucharist and have the ability to stay for as long as I'd like. <---- This is not an option in my life right now, so I pray at home, when I get a few moments of silence or in the car or when the kids go to bed. My hubby and I prayed a Rosary together the other night and it was so good and reminded me why marriage is a Sacrament in the Catholic Church. It should always have God in the center and He should be involved daily in the marriage and PRAYER is the way to do it! It's when you are most vulnerable, most calm, most at peace and your spouse, w/the help of the Holy Spirit, can bring you closer to God and to Heaven! And you are called to do this for your spouse too! (Note to self: Pray together more!)

~6~

Your two year old breaks out in song and you catch it on video:

You are welcome!

~7~

You realize how blessed you are.

Life is full of bad days, hurt feelings, things you wish you wouldn't have said/thought but when in the end, it's the little things that matter the most. The days spent in PJs w/the kids, the endless celebrations b/c between my husband and I there are 50+ people in our immediate family, watching your kids master new talents every day, warm, home-cooked meals, hot showers, good education choices for the kids, a good job for your husband and the chance to stay home w/the kids. When you realize, Life is Good! 

Don't forget to check out Jen and all the others for 7 QTs this week!

 

Stats

Happy 4 Months to Miss Miriam! :) 

 I can not believe it has been 4 months already! My how the time flies! What a true blessing she is to our family and what joy it brings to my heart to watch her develop and learn everyday!


So,  we just went to the doctors for her 4 month check-up and shots and she passed w/flying colors! Wait, it's not a test? Hmmm...the competitive side of me thinks it is! :) While the whole getting to the doctors at 9:25am, finding a spot to park, carrying lugging an infant carseat and dragging a 2 year old along behind is not my idea of fun, it has to be done. Once inside Juls is content to do chalk and play in the waiting room and Mim was happy to be out of the seat! My favorite part of the visit is when I find out her stats. How chunka monka is she? How long? And Mark's favorite, her head circumference (Juls had a big head, like 99% since 1 month old, and is only now in the 97% at almost 2.5 years old!) Well, Miss Miriam isn't as big headed as her sister but she is AS BIG as her sister was at 6 months!

Weight: 17.8lbs       

 Height: 26"         

Head Circum: 42.5cm 

That's right ladies (and gentlemen?) my 4 month old is wear 6-9/9 month clothing and is in the 98th percentile for Weight and Height! Only the 93rd for Head. I mean she did come out at almost 9lbs (8lbs 12oz) so I wasn't expecting a peanut, but my goodness! She is a fan of her Momma's cooking! :) Speaking of food, she had her first taste of rice cereal the other day and she LOVED it!

First bite! :)

Such a big girl! :)

 Can't wait to see how she changes over the next 2 months!