Easter

It's been another quiet month on the blog...a sign of life being very busy in the real world. We've had a lot of sickness lately - coughs and sniffles, and I was just recovering when I gave myself food poisoning last weekend and went downhill again. Add in the usual dose of broken sleep and well, I am exhausted!

Still - we're getting back to manageable now. We enjoyed easter day - Hamish has been learning about both the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the Easter Bunny. Very ecumenical here. I had a lovely moment with him at church this morning, where he started singing along with the congregation during the service - first time he's done that and it felt special! And then they made an easter card in Sunday school, and he 'wrote' a message in it - it was a scribble but when I asked him what it said, he answered 'He died on the cross'.

I had to explain to him that we all celebrate easter at the same time - he thought it was his easter, and we would all have our own on different dates, like birthdays! 

Then it was back home for an easter egg hunt around the front yard, organised by Adam. Hamish had a great time and both boys were keen to get into the chocolate.

Thoughts on Going From 1 Kid to 2

1. All babies are hard work. Just because you've done it before, doesn't make it less hard work. 
2. It is easier though because you're not on such a steep learning curve re baby stuff. 
3. You are on a different learning curve - how to do family life, and baby care, with another child to look after as well as the older one.
4. Life is busier. You learn how to manage without regular child nap times during the day - being on duty for about 12 hrs a day straight.
5. You have to be more organised and a bit ruthless in what you aim to get done, and what you leave undone.
6. It is easier to work out what to do with Michael aged 1 than it was with Hamish - I know what sorts of toys will entertain him amd I don't have to fill in the hours so much because Hamish provides a lot of fun and activity!
7. The house is already baby proof.
8. Toddlers are still babies in many respects. They still need a lot of attention and help with daily care. I probably underestimated this before having Michael.
9. Although having the first child does dramatically change life, having the second has made it feel more like the family is in full swing. Adam gets involved more in child care and we're adapting our days around the needs of the kids, and are able to do more fun stuff as Hamish gets older too.
10. That's all I can think of for now!

Life This Week

We are all sick. I have a throat infection, Adam feels yuck and exhausted, Hamish had a fever last night and didn't eat anything yesterday, and both boys have runny noses and coughs.

But, strangely enough, we all seem to feel relatively happy. I guess life is good, even when we're not 100%.

So far, we've had a few days gluten free and it's interesting how much healthier we're forced to eat. Lots of vegies, rice and meat, and fruit and yogurt. No sign of improvement in Michael's sleep yet. I'm keeping a food diary for him and me (he and myself??) which might help to pinpoint the issue. Overall I'm thinking he does have some sort of intolerance - it makes sense and makes me feel a bit better about all the sleep problems we've had - something to blame for them I guess!

Oscar Does The Laundry

Today Thus Far

Woken early by baby, after another restless night.

Feel very tired and unable to function.
Have coffee.
Burst into song in kitchen, to bemusement of children.


Me: You're a cheeky monkey, Hamish.
Hamish: I know mum, I know!

Go to park to meet a couple of mums from mothers group.
Feel like failure as parent as I strip H's wet shoes and socks off his feet - he made it into the water on pretext of chasing ducks.
Realise on way home that I am not failure, just only one there with two kids present. Need cloning machine.

Clean some gunge out of the pool, and spot some weird creepy crawlies in the water. On closer inspection, realise pool is teeming with the little buggers. I don't like them - they scuttle along the ground back to the water when I tip them out of the skimmer box.
Ring pool shop to be told I will have to squash the bugs - only way to get rid of them apparently. Oh, and they bite.

Finally get baby to sleep, only to have toddler deliberately open the door, waking him up.
Put toddler in his room while I try to resettle baby.
Give up.
Go to release toddler from confinement. Can't see him in room. Hmmm.
Me: Hamish?
Cupboard: Yes mum?

Drink another coffee. Don't burst into song this time.

Go to shops.
On arrival in carpark, realise baby has thrown up all over top. Is now soaked.
Find old clean baby top in boot - hurrah!
Do shopping.
Buy cupcakes.
Come home.
Eat cake.

Reflect that it's not so much what happens during the day that counts, but how I respond to it, and how I treat my kids whilst feeling fragile, that's important. I guess today isn't all that bad when I look at it that way.

On with the afternoon!

Some Changes in Perspective

We are so well off. Compared to the many in the world, we have wealth plus plus plus. Got running water? You're doing better than almost 90% of the earth's population.

What I do has value. Even on the days when it feels like I have achieved nothing. Staying home with kids is significant - to me, to my family, to God, to society. And when I value it, I enjoy it much more! (Not suggesting it's the only thing that's valuable to do, or better than other things, just that it is a very worthwhile thing to do. I often feel like I'm not achieving much but it's good to remember that the little moments add up to make a life and they all count).

Housework is greatly influenced by social acceptability. I don't actually have to do it all, I just think I need to, so people won't assume I'm a total slob.

It's not that my baby doesn't match the books, but that the books don't match my baby. So I can ignore them and get on with enjoying him.

Food Is Fun!

Highlight of The Day...

...was Hamish coming around the corner from the hall, wearing a cloth nappy on his head, announcing that he was "King Solomon!"

And yes, it was a dirty nappy!

I wonder what the Queen of Sheba would have thought...

At The Moment

At the moment, it is hard to:

• Get Wiggles songs out of my head.
• Do the laundry.
• Finish a cup of tea (somehow I always finish my coffee though...)
• Get any job done that requires exiting the house - like putting the rubbish in the bin, or the washing on the line.
• Wear matching socks (yes, this affliction affects me as well as the kids now!)
• Get an early night.
• Not rely on tv as a babysitter.

But, it is easy to:

• Laugh. A lot of laughing going on here.
• Realise that the things I'm seeing and experiencing with the kids will be treasured memories in years to come.
• Pray.
• Wear a lot of fluff. You know you have a problem when people regularly comment 'you must have some pets at home!'
• Not really care about the fluff.
• Enjoy the sunshine.

How about you?  What's hard and easy in your life at the moment?

Four Moments

Today is Father's Day. (Not sure where the apostrophe goes there!). We gave Adam a card in bed this morning and I enjoyed seeing him start the day with his two sons. He is a great dad. I reflected on his Pop, who passed away in January 2009. I'm sad that he's not with us today.

*****

At church, as I stand singing, listening to the voices of those around me, I remember previous times I have sung these songs, with the voices of friends lifting around me. It gives me a sense of connection with Christian friends from my old church. Although I don't keep in touch with most of them, we remain connected by our trust in Jesus, and this ritual of singing each week. I think of all the people who have sung the same songs over the course of time, and am grateful for the family of God.

*****

After the service, I give Hamish a cup of cordial from the kids' food table. It reminds me of church when I was a kid - we used to line up at an outside window at St Lukes Hornsby Heights to get our cordial, in brightly coloured plastic cups. I remember crowds of children, eagerly reaching up to the window. The cups we use today at Gosford Presbyterian Church are exactly the same, and it's a little surreal to be helping my little boy drink from one today.

*****

I open my fridge, and see the orange and mango jelly I made the day before, sitting in a blue mixing bowl. I am reminded of my childhood, watching Dad mix jelly in the kitchen. We used to have big jars of the crystals, not the little packets you get today. We'd sneak spoonfuls of it - a sugar hit! Jelly always felt like a real treat. Dad would mix it up in glass jugs and always stick a metal spoon in - something about it preventing the heat from cracking the glass.  As I look at my jelly today, I suddenly feel very rich. Its value seems so much more than the few dollars it cost me.

Socks (or, lack thereof)

I did a load of washing the other day (a miracle in itself!) and there were 13 of Hamish's socks in there.

None of them matched.

*sigh*

The First 3 Months

Mike is now 3 months old. He's turning into quite a munchkin!

It has been a challenging 12 weeks or so. Here's the highlights and lowlights...

Good

• Having the baby! Was great to get him early and the first few weeks were relatively calm. So much better than being pregnant.
  
• Getting to use all the baby stuff again, particularly the sling. Love babywearing!
• Slowly finding a rough pattern to Mike's behaviour and taking 'two steps forward' every now and again.
• All the help we've had - from Mum, church, friends and daycare. Everyone has been really accommodating and happy to help when needed. And plenty of people, particularly church friends, have been so encouraging and supportive, reminding me that this is a season that God is in control of, and that it does get better!
• And of course, getting to know our little boy. We love him! Nothing compares to seeing your bub's face light up when you talk to them.
  

Not So Good

• The juggling act. Impossible at times.
• Sleep deprivation. Not a form of torture for nothin'.
• The unpredictability of a newborn, and the crying. We've had a lot of that (but it's getting better).
• Being physically exhausted. Holding a baby and chasing a toddler is hard work.
  
• Working out how to occupy Hamish while I deal with Michael. I rely on the TV more now - used strategically, it's a powerful weapon! I don't like having it on all that much, but trying to get a baby to sleep with a toddler climbing your leg is a recipe for disaster. Wiggles to the rescue!

Overall, I'd say the challenges have been a bit different second time around. We feel more confident in terms of baby care, and know that every thing is a stage that will pass, but trying to manage a baby and a toddler has stretched us to the limit at times. It's been weird getting used to having two kids to love. Sometimes I feel like I don't give either of them the time and attention they deserve, because I'm constantly running between them.

But things are heading in the right direction, and there's so much to love about this stage of life for all of us. We laugh a lot, and even though I know we'll look back on this as a really hard stage of life, we know it's a special time too.

Short Update

Reflux seems to be under control. Now fighting battles over sleep.

In general, things have improved but still doing the hard yards that you get with a baby.

Hamish has been sick this week - vomiting bug. Luckily he only spewed once, and then was off his food for a few days.

I feel quite worn out, but each day has good and bad moments. Trying to enjoy the good and get through the bad.

Mike is almost 11 weeks old, so we're nearing the 3 month mark. Hooray!

kkkkkkkk,/"::;;

Things feel a bit more under control today. I've managed to get Michael to lie down a few times, propped up on a pillow. So my back has had a bit of a break. And we all had a nap at midday. I was woken from it by the sound of Elmo saying 'you're my best friend!' - I heard it through the baby monitor linking to Hamish's room, where he was in his cot with a large, talking Elmo. (He's very chirpy).

And today, I'm grateful for my fruitbowl. It's full, which is a sign that I got the shopping done. There's some tamarillos (I think that's what they are, anyway!) on the top, from Mum and Dad. Tasty!

NB the title of this post is curtesy of Oscar walking on the keyboard. He thinks it's teatime. It's not.

Things I Keep Saying

"That's not for eating!"

"What did mummy say?"

and

"Are you doing a poo?"

Aah, the conversations you have with a toddler...

Some photos

Hippie Tales #2: Home Made Yogurt

Another slightly alternative thing I've started doing is making my own yogurt. We go through a fair bit of it (say 2 ltrs a week) and the cost was starting to bother me.

So I bought an Easi-Yo kit from the supermarket and have been brewing my own yogurt instead. It's a big thermos that you fill with hot water and put a canister in, containing water, existing yogurt, and powdered milk. I use the last few spoonfuls of the previous batch to start the new lot off each time. It takes about 7 - 8 hrs to set and then I put it in the fridge, and when it cools we've got fresh, natural, healthy yogurt.

It costs around $1 a ltr and tastes good - each batch is a little different but generally it has a natural/greek yogurt flavour, and if I add some fruit and either honey or vanilla essence, it tastes great.

Hippie Tales #1: Poo Free

I've gone poo free - shampoo, that is!

A while back I came across some posts on the blogosphere about not using shampoo, and thought I'd give it a go.

The idea is that shampoo strips your hair of its natural oils, which makes your scalp work extra hard to replace them. This is turn makes your hair oilier than it would be otherwise, forcing you to wash more often. And because the oils are stripped each wash, we condition to try to smooth out our hair again! This process is not all that great for your hair, and can be expensive to maintain.

So now, instead of washing my hair with shampoo, I use bi carb soda. I mix it up with some water and rub it in, then rinse. It works really well, is cheap, and doesn't contain harsh chemicals.

So far I've continued to use normal conditioner, but yesterday I tried the alternative instead - rinsing with a bit of apple cider vinegar. It seems to have worked quite well, although it did feel a bit strange to put salad dressing on my head.

Being pregnant helps keep my hair healthy but even taking that into account, I have to say that going poo free has been great - on the budget, and on my head!

Happy new year

Hope you had an enjoyable time over the festive season!

I had an unplanned break from blogging in December, mainly due to tiredness. It was a bit of a difficult month all up - just usual pregnancy weariness combined with a (wonderful) husband working long hours, and a toddler who is always on the go! And I developed low blood pressure which means I have to spend more time than I'd like lying down and resting.

I do find in times when it all is a bit too much the struggle I have is to rely on God's strength, not my own. I have to watch my thoughts or I get down in the dumps, thinking I must be doing a bad job because I can't manage everything as well as I would like. I have this picture in my head of someone living my life, but doing it perfectly, and I just don't measure up!

It is one of the challenges of childrearing to find things to do when you're not really well, the weather sucks, you don't have much money, and you and your kid/s are bored bored bored! Finding that balance between getting near enough rest, while not developing cabin fever, is the tricky bit.

It's something I'm working on, and praying about. I want to find the joy in everyday life, because it is there for the taking. Just have to wade past the crud in the way.

Easy biscuit recipe

I've made this a few times lately, it's so easy and versatile.

125g low fat margerine
half cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 egg
Whatever else you've got that you want to chuck in!

Mix the margerine and sugar together, then add the egg. Sift in the flour and mix it all up.

Then add in whatever you want to add some flavour - I've used oats and sultanas for a healthier snack, and choc bits, cocoa and orange essence for a less healthy treat!

It makes about 20 small biscuits - which don't last all that long around here...