Making Time

Recently I got sucked back into watching videos online, spending a lot of time on Twitter, blogs, and Google+. These are all okay things to do, there is nothing inherently wrong with them. In fact, there are times when all of these things can be edifying; they can give us the time that we need to calm down, relax, or give us the outlet that we need. But for me, my tendency to go all in with something, I struggle with finding a medium. I struggle with allowing these various things to be edifying and not taking away from my vocation as a Catholic mom. Backing away from some of these things gives me the time I need to focus on my boys and my faith life.

My biggest downfall as a mom is to allow the ease of television watching. I mean, we don't have any actual TV service, but we have a lot of DVDs and those of you who follow my blog know that SpongeBob is a huge hit over here. So I've been working on really being in the moment with the boys. Enjoying their silliness and craziness and just being there. Less SpongeBob and more momma. Even though this is what usually happens:

Dominic: Hi daddy!
Me: I'm momma!
D: daaaaddy...
M: moooommma..
D: Daddy!!!
M: Momma!!!
D: ::giggles:: Hi Momma!

It has been great though just enjoying the time together and the boys seem to be enjoying it as well.

And completely unrelated to these pictures and this post, but this was too funny not to share. Jason was telling Christopher over breakfast on Sunday that he has to grow up some time, that you can't be a kid forever. His breakfast? A large marshmallow, ripped in two with a chocolate donut between. ;-)

Theme Thursday - Dads

I'm linking up with the Clan again because Cari is so awesome and I love her link-ups...except for when I can't relate because I don't have any girls in the house besides myself and I already played along with the self-portrait one. ;-)

So this week's theme is dads. While I have a great connection with both my step-dad and my dad, I'm not including them here because a) I don't actually have their permission to put their likeness on my blog and because b) the most important dad in my life right now is the dad to my boys.

Jason is such a good daddy; he walks in the door and immediately is looking for his boys to play with and hug and just be with. He handles everything with them as well as...well let's be real here...better than I do. Aside from breastfeeding anyway.

The one he's wearing isn't even our baby lol, we were watching a friend's little girl

Well, um, that was picture heavy. Ah well...they're cute boys so it's OK right?! Go see Cari and check out more dads!

7 Quick Takes (Vol 9)

--- 1 ---

I'm like a regular blogger this week. It's part of what I'm trying to do for myself. I really enjoy writing, I mean I don't know if anyone reads what I write, but it's kind of cathartic for me. So, I'm hoping for some regular blog posts coming up 3-5 would be good.

--- 2 ---

The benefit of doing your quick takes late in the day is that you can wait to see what happens during Friday and talk about it in my quick takes. This time, I can ask my readers to pray for Dwija. She's 15 weeks pregnant, and could definitely use your prayers.

--- 3 ---

I'm working on potty training Dominic. Well, I mean, not really, because he would actually have to go to the bathroom on his little potty seat instead of just hanging out on it. We are using Pull Ups (which by the way is one of those things I swore I'd never do of course) and visiting frequently. Pretty much he doesn't have any interest going, he doesn't seem to understand when he's wet or dirty, so he doesn't tell us when his diaper needs to be changed. I'm trying not to push things with him because I know that it can cause problems, but we are still going to sit on the potty as frequently as possible. Also, the Pull Ups fit him well...he's a pretty big kid...the regular size 6 diapers do not fit him very well. Sigh.

--- 4 ---

I can't believe that I had an entire quick take that was about diaper/Pull Ups. Wow...I'm such a mom.

--- 5 ---

I'm trying to plan a staycation or vacation for us. Jason needs to take some time off, but I don't want our time to be doing things around the house or anything like that. Anyone ever do a staycation? What kinds of things did you do?

--- 6 ---

We have always been really laid back with sleep times/schedules. And by that I mean that I've always just watched for sleepiness and set naps and bedtimes accordingly. This worked great with Dominic...still would mostly, he'll go to sleep when he's tired. Christopher on the other hand, has been a troublesome sleeper. He has this window of time where he will fall asleep and if you miss it...you're out of luck. So, lately they've been laying down for naps super late and then taking long naps which means they go to bed late. I'm going against every fiber of my laid back mom being and trying to attempt some sort of a schedule. It worked for Dominic today. Christopher, not so much. As Dominic woke up I went in to see Christopher crashed on top of where Dominic was probably laying and he's still asleep. Boo. I'm hoping that as we instill early mornings, it will equal earlier naptimes. Meanwhile, I hope daddy will take over bedtime tonight. Hint, hint. ;-)

--- 7 ---

I only wear skirts, and I have a hard time finding skirts that I love. These skirts are so awesome. They are made by people who go backpacking and do all sorts of things that I don't do. But, I can clip them up into pants and ride my bike with them. And, best thing for a mom. They clean so quickly and easily...you can just wipe anything off and they dry so fast. Seriously, check them out; they're kind of pricey (but there's a sale happening right now!), but totally worth it. I own 5 and I rarely wear any other skirts.

So that's it for me! For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes (vol 8)

--- 1 ---

Someone hacked my blog. I mean...I can't imagine WHY, but being married to an IT guy made it so I could figure out how. Apparently some of the WordPress themes can sometimes contain malicious software. Oftentimes Google would catch this, but the last time I updated my themes I was on my phone and or my tablet. On the WordPress app. Needless to say I won't be doing that again.

--- 2 ---

If you follow me on Twitter you may have caught my rant the other day. I ran into a family member at Walmart when I was trying to let Dominic walk with me. He's used to doing that with daddy, who is able to shop, hold Christopher and chase him down. I am not that awesome. So Dominic's walk with me was interspersed with giggles and "look! momma!" and mild-large tantrums when I tried to direct him. I don't think I was even angry, a few times I was firm because, hey, even though we live in a small town, I don't desire to lose my kid in a store. I have a loud voice, it carries and this is the only thing I can attribute to this family member saying she could hear me screaming at Dominic. This was after she called me a bad mom. :( I always have had issues with this family member, and this shouldn't have surprised me but for some reason it still surprised and hurt me.

--- 3 ---

I found this at Walmart last night. Ohhhhmygosh this is so, so good! I've eaten it on bananas so far but think it would be great on graham crackers or just toast. Oh yum!

--- 4 ---

I don't know if you follow Caitlin's blog, but seriously the way she shared her news with her readers and her family is so cute! You should totally check it out!

--- 5 ---

Christopher is a little delayed in his speech. As in, he's not speaking. When we were first worried the ENT told us that after he got tubes in his ears that should help him start speaking. But that was done in January and still nothing. I bit the bullet and got him evaluated for the early intervention program. Right now they agree that he needs services but we don't know for sure if he has any hearing problems. He will not allow us to do his hearing test. We tried two different ones, but still nothing. The auditory specialist wants to suggest something where they put him under to check his ears. We aren't sure what we should do yet.

--- 6 ---

We've been doing the Insanity workout which has been going pretty well. I mean it's crazy hard, but I've stuck to it. That is until the last week or so. We moved up to the max intensity and my knees are killing me all. the. time. I've ordered 10 minute trainer from beachbody so hopefully it comes soon and I can get back to my workouts.

--- 7 ---

I'm asking for prayers for an extremely special (to me anyway ;-)) intention.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

 

The Day After the Night SpongeBob Went Dark at the Spano Home

OK, so, since Christopher has been born I have been using DVDs way too much as a crutch to keep Dominic entertained when doing things like nursing Christopher/trying to get him down for a nap, hopping in for a quick shower, going to the bathroom, cooking dinner. I'm mostly OK with having used TV because I think that it has it's place. We like watching movies and we like SpongeBob. (I know, I have now lost all credibility with you. ;-)) But, lately we've been doing it more than I'd like. Part of it is that I like to have background noise. We don't have TV service, but the last time I did it was more for the noise then because I was "sucked in".

We have a ridiculously long living room. The way we have our furniture allowed us to use the ottoman kind of diagonally between the chair and the entertainment center thus keeping a "safe" area for Dominic and keeping him away from buttons he so desperately wanted to push. But, he climbs now.  Like this: And into things like this: So, I knew it was inevitable that he would start climbing onto the ottoman. I mean he can already climb onto the furniture, why he hasn't figured out that he can get onto the ottoman, I'm not sure, but it's only a matter of time. Also, the button pushing. Oh, the button pushing. How it pushes my buttons.

And that brings me to the entire point of this post (took a while didn't it? Well, at least there are cute pictures), we flipped the switch on the (unreachable to Dominic) power strip taking all power away from the entertainment center, but allowing us parents the ability to flip it back on when we want to have family movie night. So today has been fun. I haven't even wanted to turn it on. In the (rare) quiet moments, I've been reading out loud from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Alice in Wonderland.

SpongeBob is not out forever, I do not think that TV is evil, but it was becoming too much of a crutch, so I'm glad to have done this. I'm excited to have a good excuse to read more. :)

Small Successes

This week, it seems like a struggle to think of just one success for me, so I thought it would be important to do this week's Small Successes and focus on some of the things that I've done this week.

1) I have kept the house relatively picked up, this is a big deal to me because lately I've been really struggling with the daily routine and figuring out how to do it and still use the time when Dominic is not napping to spend with him. So, this week I'm proud of myself for the doing the dishes more than once, and even doing the laundry!

2) Cooked something new, and it didn't completely suck! I roasted a whole chicken for the first time ever on Tuesday. It was kind of a pain, and as Jason said, not sure the difficulty involved was worth the meal, but it was cool that I did it and it tasted good. I'd really like to try cooking something new every week, we'll see how Jason goes for that! ;-)

3) Dominic rolled over for the first time!OK, so it's not *my* success per se, but it was so wonderful that I decided to put it here. I guess in a way it is our success as parents as we have been better about giving Dominic the time he needs on the floor. We love holding him, so we spend a lot of time playing with him in our arms, and I think it sort of hindered that instinct a bit. So, we've made a more conscious effort to leave him on the floor playing a bit more.

So, what are your small successes this week?

Boo!

Halloween weekend is upon us, and as the kumquat's first one, we are so excited! He's going to be a monkey...and don't worry, pictures will be forthcoming. We are actually going to take him trick or treating because there are people that want to see him dressed up, and because come on, he is totally going to RAKE in the candy! He's adorable!!

[caption id="attachment_349" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="So cute, wait til you see him in his monkey costume!"][/caption]

And being too young to eat it...Daddy and I will be forced to consume it for him...oh darn! ;-)

Today we will be going to see Daddy in his costume for work. They do themes and there is a judging and everything. He is the spoon, and gasp, is running away with a dish today! :-o It is always entertaining to see what these departments come up with. (It's a hospital, so if you go into PMC and are treated by a cow...well, just look out for the moon!)

So, yesterday I was watching a video of one of my new facebook friends, Emily. Her son was in the saint's parade at his school...it was pretty darn cute! :) I was wondering if there are Catholic parents who do this? Do kids like this better than dressing up as the latest hero? Or do you do both?

The kumquat being the first of, hopefully, many fruits on our Spano tree, we are super excited to see these holidays through a young ones eyes. We are going to let them dress up for Halloween, probably keeping it away from the ghoulish. I say probably because if our kids want to dress up like Dracula, we'll probably let them (if they want to dress up like Jacob or that other guy from Twilight...um, not! ;-)). But I know this is a heated topic; there are a lot of Christian parents who are against Halloween. It can become quite a heated debate.

So, I'm curious, what are your thoughts? Do you think kids should be able to dress up for Halloween and go door to door begging for candy? :)

Choices, We All Have to Make Them

Our lives are filled with choices; do I wear red today, or blue. Drink water, or a Coke. Eat a greasy burger, or that healthy salad. Some choices are mundane and have little consequences for the world around us, and other choices (get married, or become a nun) affect many people around us. As parents the choices that we make have lasting consequences. Our children will be shaped by these choices, and their kids might be shaped as well. There are a lot of different choices when it comes to parenting; often these do not equate to right and wrong or good and bad. It is not "more" right to have a schedule for naps for your kids than to not. It is simply a choice.

I wonder what gives people the audacity to do this; and I mean when there is not abuse in any form happening. Not like "I can't believe you let your 2 year old play 'cook' with your real stove when you're getting the bath ready for your 1 year old that you plan to leave alone in the bathtub while you read a book". I mean, just different choices that people don't agree with; what gives you the right to question me? (And of course, I mean 'you' in the general sense! ;-))

I've recently taken some hits from family members who, I'm sure, think that Jason and I are extremely selfish parents. We don't like to pass the kumquat around. We try to let the two grandmas and the grandpas (if they want) hold the baby, but honestly, even passing him off to them is hard for us. And, no, it's not because our parents are crazy and we don't trust them. It's because we absolutely adore holding Dominic. He is so sweet and cuddly right now, and we know that this is not going to last, and honestly we want to enjoy that as much as we can. We are new parents so we are also getting the feel for how we want to parent, and so we aren't spending as much time with our families as we did before the kumquat made his arrival.

So, some people in my family decided to tell me that it's unfair that they are not getting to hold Dominic. I'm sorry that their feelings are hurt, and that certainly was never our intention. And it's OK for you to not agree with us about what we're doing, but it isn't OK to be disrespectful and attack what we're doing. If you want to voice your opinions, that's OK, but do not make passive-aggressive comments as you step away. Do not attempt to guilt us into doing things by pointing out that my parents will die. Um, yeah, I know all about that mortality thing. But mostly, please be prepared to hear the truth delivered to you bluntly if you cannot be respectful to our choices.

I've decided that in the future when things come up about what we are or aren't doing with our little kumquat(s), that I'm going to say "thank you for your opinion. Are you excited to see <<insert new exciting movie coming out>>?" And hope that they take the hint!

Thinking About Thumbsucking

Not ME of course. But babies, well specifically Dominic. He's not a thumb sucker per se, but I've now "caught" him 3 times happily sucking his thumb; and 2 of these times were today! :-o

You see, it seems as though the kumquat can't quite get the hang of the pacifier. If we're holding it in, or are at least there to catch it and shove it back in, he's OK. But, leave him alone for a few seconds, and he really can't handle it. It's out in no time. So, the past couple of days he's really been sucking...like, a serious need to suck. Yesterday I spent about 1/2 hour holding a pacifier in his mouth til he was done. But, today when I came in the room he had decided he couldn't wait for Mama to hold in the pacifier, so he just sucked on his thumb. Note that this seems to content him only about as long as the pacifier does...maybe about 10 minutes both times today.

[caption id="attachment_333" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="It's hard to want to stop it when he's so darn cute!"][/caption]

So, I've heard horror stories about thumb suckers, and we don't really want huge problems with it, but surely there are well adjusted people that were thumbsuckers. So, come on well adjusted people, tell me about it. Please. :)

All Parents Are "Working" Parents

So although I consider myself a stay-at-home wife and mom, I actually have a job outside of the home too. It's just part time, per diem, and scheduled for when Jason can be home with Dominic. Regardless of which one of us is working outside the home, we want one of us to be with the kumquat. Both of our jobs are at PMC, and this week I have orientation. Jason has an awesome boss who said he could either take the day off or take Dominic to work with him. Well, since his coworker has a web-class to "attend" this week, he decided he could watch Dominic at work.

I dressed him warm since Jason has a FREEZING office, his poor coworker is always freezing. All 56 pounds of her. ;-) So, back to Dominic. He was in this adorable little outfit all warm and cozy. What do you think he did a couple of hours into Jason's day with him? Yep, a blow out diaper. Well, it's a good thing we'd already learned our lesson about how to pack a diaper bag properly (don't ask how we learned that lesson, suffice it to say, it was the hard way!). Jason handled it well. In fact, he handled being a dad and working really well. He took Dominic all over the hospital with him, held him while working on computers. Pretty much he's a rock star.

And I struggle to get laundry done while caring for him when I'm home. What exactly am I doing wrong?!

Well, I'm going to chalk it up to beginner's luck; not that he's a anymore of a beginner than I am except that he doesn't spend all day on work days with him. But, thinking of him as a beginner makes me feel better about my ineptitude. :)

It doesn't really matter if you're working outside the home or not, being a parent is super hard. It's really hard to do things while you're caring for a child. And today I got a look at what it's like for Jason on a regular day. How much you want to hold, and hug, and kiss that little one that you had to be away from. Even if we were in the same building and I took my breaks with him.

Working (outside the home) moms, how do you do it?