Nakita Baby

I gots some swimmin’ fiends on my hands!

It’s been a fun couple of weeks with the swimming skills flourishing all around. K’s latest “tricks” have been to finally (and I mean FINALLY!! ; ) putting his head under water and realizing he won’t drown! Just last week he realized that he could stick his head under, and that led to him actually checking out the goggle mask I had purchased for him a few years ago. When he realized that the mask would block his nose and he could see underwater…. he was in TRUE love. He is now a “scuba diver” (by his standards : ) and just can’t get enough. So after a full 5 hours of swimming yesterday at the pool, he desperately wanted to go to the beach to scuba dive there as well. After a bit of time complaining that the water was too stinkin’ cold, he got over that and finally dived right in. He was sure he saw a shark under there : )

D’s just the little swimmer. She’s been comfortable with her head in the water since last summer, so this summer she is really trying to master the bubbles-from-the-nose-thing. She tends to hold her breath, or blow out from her mouth, but not yet from her nose. I told her when she braves that one, I’d find her a swim team. She’s dying to figure out strokes and really cruise in the water. I’ve lent and hand to some stroke work and she’s really working hard to master, but till she gets them bubbles-outta-da-nose the stroke work will be kinda slow. I can see her falling in love with being on a swim team. She needs to exert some major energy daily and she’d really dig that.

And of course, S-man. He started the summer with not wanting to even put his feet in the water at the beach. And at the pool, he’d go in if I was holding onto him. Well…. that’s about 360′d since. At the beach, he is brave enough to run to the water and flop himself in. A little too brave for my comfort as I am sure that he will not realize that he can fall forward and into deeper water. Fortunately, not happened yet…. but yea, I get a little heart-throbby when I see him whirling himself down to the lakefront! ; ) At the pool we go to they have these life vests for kiddos to wear, and he’s gotten super duper comfortable cruisin’ around on his own there. Even hurling himself down the water slide! Crawling under waterfalls and just diggin’ the water a ton! He tries desperately to do what the big kids do by sticking his head under, but he’s just not quite getting the bubble-thing. It’s really pretty comical too. I’ll demonstrate, and he’ll repeat the spurting action out of the water, but as soon as his mouth goes to the water, he opens it WIDE! Today was even more hilarious…. he was putting on a set of the goggles and telling me to watch him. He’d run down to where there was less than a half inch of water and put the goggle/mask into the water and then stand up…. “did you see me mommy?!” He’s super proud.

They are already planning the next swimming session. They are trying to decide if skipping park day for swimming is something they want to do Thursday : ) The verdict is still out.

blackberry-uploads_2010-056  (video of today…. for some reason I can’t get the sound to work on it…. stay tuned on the technical difficulty as I have many other videos I’d love to upload as well!)

What’s not to love about a Saturday? I think it is becoming my absolute favorite day of the week. Never used to be as I used to have a class to cart someone to, or errands to run, or meetings to attend. And as of late I have nix’d all of that. The classes must all be during the week, the errands get done during that time too, and meetings can be held on Sundays or weeknights. No need to interrupt a perfectly nice Saturday!

So today I got to sleep in till about 9a or 9:30a which is always bliss for me. Since I flip and flop a lot all night trying to get comfortable, it’s nice to grab extra zzzz’s. When I woke I had my bi-weekly (slowly becoming about a 10 day cycle) of my waffle marathon. Those boys sure to pack away them waffles and they just aren’t quite making it for a full 2 weeks any more. But it’s fun to make them and everyone loves the super fresh ones. They become most of the meals of the day (today’s breakfast, lunch and snacks!).

I delved into a book I had just gotten from Amazon, and I’m so in love so far… hooked. I just wish there were was more alert time in a day to read it so I could get through it more quickly. But today, got lots in…. 60-something pages with S and D… that’s a feat. ; ) After my late afternoon shower D and I wander over the thrift store and dollar store to pick up a couple essentials, and SBJ took the boys to Devon to pick up some beef. He had been craving some red meat (seems to an annual thing for us), and so he cruised there to get some fresh cut. He made an amazing domoda which I don’t think I could have gotten enough of tonight! All the while, poor K is saying, “so are we vegetarian or not???!!!” The boy just needs to know. It’s one or the other and no in between for him. I explained to him, that yes, we are mostly vegetarian, but if the meat is coming from a source we feel comfortable with, we’re not all that opposed. Funny thing, the kids did not even like the meat this evening, so it really was not even an issue after all, but still kinda funny, the whole dinner-time discussion.

This week each of the bigger kids had a date with G’ma which they had not had for a very very long time. Well, for D even, this was her first time alone on an adventure with G’ma. Tuesday K traveled down to MSI with her to see the new storm exhibit. Funny though, his big report about the day was about the poop exhibit and the large (imax) movie screen. He had a really nice time! D went to see Toy Story 3 with her on Friday and then they went to her place to garden and make pizza. She seemed to have a blast (after her initial paranoia really). She was too worried about something the evening before, but I think once they got to the theater, she was OK. And at G’mas she was really having fun.

S was pretty upset both times that G’ma did not take him. It was really cute to see that even cared and wanted to be along on the adventure as well. It was nice for me both days to have a combination of 2, which really never happens. I had a really nice time with each on both days.

We had a day where we ventured to our garden to check on things and water, and surprisingly we had a yummy 3 snap peas to munch on. We have tomatoes starting and lettuce still growing. Hopefully more will come up. Oh, and peppers as well, starting to bloom. It’s nice to have some things come up and be edible! ; ) We got an email from the Evanston Eco Center that they have a half plot for us starting right now. I am not sure I have it in me to give another plot a whirl at this point. I hate to let it go as well. Maybe we’d have better growth there!? Our GV plot really does not get enough sun, so it will be iffy on what’s really going to come up for us and not. If we tried again in EV, maybe we’d have a bit more success…. need to chat that one over with SBJ.

I made another sling this week! That was so cool. My sister-in-law has a client that is a recovering addict and trying hard to get back on track with her kids. She wanted to give her a sling as a gift to help with attachment with her newest baby and so I made one for cost. So that was super duper special and going to such a fabulous cause. I’m thrilled she wanted to share that special gift with her, and hope that other therapist in her office will want to do the same. (We had chatted about me doing them for cost for this reason, and I hope it blooms! I would love to help!)

Hmm…. Oh, the EHE yearbook pages were completed this week! Thank goodness too. I had so procrastinated that project it was painful to get done really. I am thrilled it is done and that the kids will be a part of it. I think they will love the final product/keepsake. But man…. I guess I’m just not a fan of photo editing and such. Especially online. I do love to photo collage things, but seeing as we are cutting where possible, I was not going to print out a ton of photos to then cut up and butcher to collage. So I had to wing it on the computer, which I’m just not all the familiar with, so it was quite painful. But it’s done and I think, not to shabby : )

The hot topic of the last couple of days has been to fireworks or not to fireworks this year. I sorta said we were not going to attempt it this year, and as soon as I did there were gripes about not going. For all of the years (except the last) we had traipsed all the way down to the lake on foot, and then there was whining, tired, cold, sleepy, bored, not that excited children that wanted to go home. So there’d we go before finale to get everyone to their beds. Last year we were in Kenosha checking it out as a potential new home…. and really just enjoying a long weekend getaway. So they did really enjoy them last year b/c we had beached the whole day and picnicked right before, and there was far more entertainment going on aside from fireworks. We did make it through the whole night, but also had an excruciating attempt of driving out of there (back to the hotel) that night. One I don’t think I could forget! Poor S was SO tired and trying to nurse him to sleep, get him back in the car seat (asleep) and keep driving was just not working out for us. Ugh.

At any rate, we shall see. SBJ has an interview tomorrow, which to me, just has to be good if they are asking him to come in on a holiday. Fingers and toes crossed on this one. But what this means is a trip to the parade for a little bit, and then drive him down to Lakeview for his interview. Back home for us, but we’ll see if this wears them out for the evening. My thought was to try James Park this year and climb to the top of the hill. I know you can see the Sears Tower from up there, and so must be able to see a few other city fireworks as well as Evanstons?! (At least I would hope!!) Then my fear is we attempt that one, and they don’t see any fireworks at all and then I’m in just as much trouble : )

Oh…. off to see if I can muster a few pages of my book. Noticing the time it may have to wait till tomorrow…. Happy 4th of July!!!

Yes… my next adventure is going to be teaching Bradley Method classes. Really very psyched about the concept as it will lead to the bigger picture as well. I ultimately would love to do Doula work, but seeing as I’m about to have baby 4, this idea is sorta on the back-burner for some time. However, Bradley, something I am passionate about IS something I can do right now and eventually will be added with doula work down the road! (I’d even love to learn ultrasound tech skills to be able to do prenatal screening… something still mulling over… ) I’m thrilled and elated. Both are something I am passionate about and would love to do and share with others. My glitche…. well…. the next Bradly certification is Sept. 23-26th here in Chicago. Yep…. that’s right. When am I due? Some time between Sept. 22-29th! Yeepers.

I did not have much to go on when going for my first prenatal, so their “measuring” technique to predict due date was ultrasound. The first ultrasound measured about Sept. 22nd. Then the 20 week ultrasound measured about Sept. 29th. I think baby has picked up speed in the growth department as of lately, and so I do think we are targeting more like the 22nd, but also quite honestly… could be anytime on after that! So…. here it stands… register for the training and hopes that I’m not in physical labor? Try to get to an out-of-state training before then which would mean hours and hours of driving to a long-distance location with the whole family? Register for a training after due date period and attend with new baby and family in tow? OR…. await a full year more before starting?

I really don’t think the last option is even a possibility. My other option might be to look into teaching “Natural Childbirth” classes, and work on Bradley certification next year. But even that seems a bit harder b/c baby would need more of my time/nursing and that could be even more challenging attending with baby/toddler than with a sleeping newborn.

Somehow these stars will align and I will know what to do next. Fortunately I have friends who have followed this path and teach now, so I do hope they can enlighten me along this journey.

This week’s to-do list is a mile long and I’m starting to feel like I’m barely staying above water. Not sure how this all piled up…. well, I could probably logically guess that I thoroughly enjoyed the start of summer and procrastinated more than I shoulda, and here I am wondering why I don’t have more time. Of course, when you think you’ll have all the time in the world, more gets piled on and then you’re regretting having not started some of this earlier! Such is life…. And b/c of it, I must bid ado and head off to accomplish something before my eyes start to cross and I just can’t stay awake anymore. The key will be to stay off of FB and especially off of Scrabble : )

What an amazing day on the beach! Met the NUG’rs at the beach today and it was so perfectly amazing. Not too hot, not too cold and 5+ hours sunshine to die for. S was in pure form and it’s just so perfectly amazing to seem him back. There is nothing that stresses me more as a mama than to see one of my babies feeling so-not-themselves. I think I feel their pain 10-fold. So when they are healthy and happy, it’s just an automatic upper for mama! : )

That is the question!
Yes…. my latest “dilemma”…. I had cut my hair pretty short in the last few months and LOVED it. It’s grown out quite a bit since then and I’m in the position of trying to figure out if I should grow it out, or cut it super short again. Yes, yes, I know, such a painstaking dilemma. But really, with baby 4 coming along, I have found myself planning lots of physical changes in myself, and hair is among. I’d love to get my nose pierced, my upper ear pierced, and I have been drafting a tattoo that I’d love to get. I’m thinking all of these things need to be accomplished before baby comes along or it will be a really really (really) long time before I do b/c of the demands of newborns and nursing. And… so, ok, back to hair. If I cut, I’m going super short. If I grow it would be so I could pull it back out of my face and make life easier with a newborn. And there it rests…. which way to go is the question of the day. May have to mull that one over a bit more.

Today was amazing. Just had to report. 6.5 hours at grandpa’s pool was extremely therapeutic for each of us. Still had to pry K out of the water at 6:3opm b/c I was about to die of starvation at that point. D’s eyes so red she nearly passed out in her plate during dinner. S totally on the mends…. happiness in the water, a 1 hour nap in the perfect sunshine, and ate really pretty well throughout the day. I, woke up feeling 100% better than yesterday, and the sunshine just set my day in perfect motion. It was quite blissful. And I, for one, feel back on track. Phew : )

Highlight of the day: Went to check on the garden to see if it had just been wiped away in the torrential storms last night, and instead we found a snap pea started, AND a few blossoms coming shortly behind.

Tomorrow…. BEACH!

Love. Summer.

Yes, that’s just the plain honest truth. As much as I LOVE being a mama more than anything in the world…. there are those moments where it just sucks.

Today might be one of those days…. for me.

So the older 2 had wanted to go the pool as of lately, and as much as I was trying to accommodate that, the weather did not seem to want to cooperate with that plan today, so I opted to offer to take them to the Shedd Aquarium for the day and then tomorrow when it looked like a clearer forecast, we could try the pool thing. So, they seemed thrilled with that idea, however before we even got ready to move out the door, K and D were at it again. Now, I’m not a fool to think that sibling rivalry could not possibly exist amongst any set of siblings, even mine. But what’s really really getting to me is the physical-ness of it that ultimately has someone in tears. I try to explain over and over (and over and over and over) again that I, in know way, expect that they agree on absolutely everything, BUT I 110% believe that they could disagree without beating the crap out of each other.

Being at wits end with this phenomena, I made the decision that if/when this happens we bail on our day’s activities and just chill for the day instead. I, honestly, have yet to hold-true to this “threat” until today. And even when I did so today, bailing on the Shedd adventure, I felt totally torn. I mean what does staying home accomplish in the battle of the physical? What good does it do to threaten something unrelated and follow through with it? Aside from making me feel like complete crap. What does it do for them? I can’t really think of anything it’s helping aside from seeing that mom can be a real grouch at times. So here we sat for the day.

Now, I have to say, the rest of the day was really quite pleasant amongst the 2 of them. They played together quite nicely and lots of fun laughter, but really, is that because of the “threat” in the air, or is that b/c they just needed a day at home to chill with each other? I just don’t know. And then the afternoon I plugged away at the computer, feeling quite pleased at what I was accomplishing for myself, but feeling like you-know-what b/c I was accomplishing this stuff for myself. That added to my feeling of yuck about the situation.

To top things off, S did not seem totally better from his stomach-thingy today. Yesterday was a really good day, and today I felt he was doing just fine, but SBJ kept making comments that made me feel otherwise. (Sometimes I think he just does not get that his statements, comments, feedback weigh heavily on me. Bless his heart, I know he does not mean to freak me out, but it just happens sometimes….. I’m sure being an emotional, hormonal preggo woman did not help matters today.) So…. anyway, as much as I am saying he’s doing fine, he’s just recovering from something yuck that wiped him out, I am hearing the opposite. At dinner S did not each much of anything, but keep in mind he had a cookie today, he did take in 1-2 bites of stuff throughout the day, his diapers were wet (well-hydrated), still not a single fever either, so he’s complaints of belly ache are the result of him still trying to kick it and get better. But…. SBJ made a comment about him not eating being a problem and I ultimately start to internally freak out. It was just one-to-many times hearing something like that and being as emotional as I was that I did not handle that one right. I started to really feel like a poopy mommy and called the Dr.. Dr. decides, ultimately that I could bring him to the ER to have him checked out. ER???? REALLY!?!? I mean b/c his belly hurts???

Ugh…. I called my mother and that may have just made me even worse b/c she’s been trying to convince me for the last few days that he needs and xray b/c he could be backed up all the way to his intestines. I mean come on!!! I think I’d get if he was that constipated. He’s in diapers! But, yea, she was agreeing with Dr. and that ER was a good choice. I’m packing bag and thinking, “this really seems totally ridiculous to me!!!” I make sure I have the insurance cards and pack saltines and a water bottle. S sees the saltines and decides he wants to eat those!

Sure enough…. he downs 2-3 saltines AND I made him some Emergen-C to drink which he downed with water as well. Even had some ice cream with D and K after that. I say to SBJ, “you really think this is necessary? He’s eating and drinking well… for having recovered that stomach upset.” SBJ responds with, “I never thought he should go in the first place.”

I…. break down in complete sobbing tears.
I explain to him that things he says made me feel horrible and all day I had been trying to tell him he’s doing well, and yet I felt the opposite from him, and now the Dr and my mother! (He of course apologized saying he did not mean it to sound like that…. ) I am pretty hormonal today I think.

UGH….
S then asks if he could “go to the Dr.” with me, but he really just had his shoes on and wanted to go outside. I took him for a little walk around the building looking for lightening bugs and he walked the whole way, thoroughly enjoying being outdoors and the bugs. He had his ice cream when we returned and he said he was ready for bed.

The stress of trying to keep someone alive and well is just daunting at times. And to HEAR your gut speaking to you, but then to  have the feeling that everyone around you is saying and feeling the complete opposite is just SO daunting. How does a mommy build up the strength to stand strong when following her gut on things like this!!! Likewise…. to be place this on top of my sibling rivalry (internal) battle on how to handle that…. yipes… I’m SO tired!

AND…. I am SO glad that tomorrow is a NEW day!!!
I’m so ready to do-over and find a better way!

(Ironically here I sit watching this freaking show called “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant” on TLC… I mean, come one! Are you freakin’ serious?!?! : )

Hectic weekend led to a semi-restful Monday. Starting last week, Friday, we made the insane decision that beach day at Foster and then a drive across Chicago (west-ward) during rush-hour was a wise idea. May not have been so bad if we weren’t in the midst of a torrential down pour, and we hadn’t had the beach day from hell. Well…. it was the getting there and settled that was slightly insane, and then we were thrilled to be there. But apparently it was Chicago’s half-day/last-day of school and it’s “tradition” for everyone to head to Foster on that Friday! And yep…. I had no clue of this lil’ tradition and got suckered into the trek. So parking was a nightmare. Probably a good mile or so from the beach. Beach totally crowded, people on top of each other, which for the J’s just does not fly. BUT…. it was so stinkin’ hot that it was a blessing to be settled and cooling off in the water!

The drive to the b-day party was a nightmare, but again, once we finally arrived, the skies totally cleared and the kids had a blast with their friends. It was a super fun time for all. Of course we all returned home completely wiped out and totally needed to wash people down. It was a late night to say the least.

Sat. I had an au pair meeting, meeting the au pairs at the Custer Street Fair, definitely one of my favorites. S woke up feeling kinda funky. He had a rough night the night before, and was not feeling great that day. He passed out for a nap just before I needed to leave, so I ended up taking K and D to the fair instead of everyone. I met up with the au pairs, and we saw a bit of the fair, but unfortunately, we had to head out quickly as I had another meeting to get to. Kids were bummed and I felt bad b/c they hadn’t gotten to wander the fair much.

Evening meeting was the mamas/daughters group and it was really really nice. I am getting a good feel for where this is going and how it’s evolving and look forward to the time when the girls are involved in the meetings. Looks like we are going to attempt one moms meeting a month and one girls meeting a month. It’ll be great to see how things transpire when the girls are participating.

Father’s Day was lovely and low key. The kids picked out a new bike helmet for daddy’s gift as he’s been quite the biker lately. He’s got the bike and now the helmet and enjoying the exercise he’s getting and the additional special time he’s getting with the kids. The kids each drew nice pictures for him. That is really D’s thing. She loves to draw book-fulls of pix and thoroughly enjoys giving her art to her loved ones. So sweet.

So. After a lounging morning we decided that K and S could get out to the Brickworld festival for a bit and I would hang with the other 2. S was still not feeling tip-top shape so it was not worth trekking around with him and D is not that totally into Legos that paying her admission was worth it. After they got their little traps around the festival we stopped by the garden to see what was left standing…. not much at this point. But hopefully we’ll get at least 1 vegetable out of the whole thing. : ) After that stop-over we headed back to Custer Street Fair. It’s a fun festival and I enjoy peeking around at people’s cool stuff. I swear every year, that the next year I will have a table there. But each year comes and goes and I fail to get my butt in gear to do so. Maybe next year will finally be the year. At least I’d hope so!

Ah… so headed home and everyone crashed. That’s pretty busy for us as I kinda love the more mellow weekend times, but it was really fun and worth it all. S was still not up to par as of yesterday and so we opted to stay home today and kinda catch up and enjoy some down time. Today he’s kinda back and forth on whether on the mends or not. Not even sure what’s happening with him as he seems to only have stomach issues. No fever, nothing else to go on. What I think is going on is teething. Those stinkin’ molars still have not completely come in and I think there’s lots of drool making its way down to his little tummy and he’s got some major upset. I started him on probiotics yesterday seeing as he’s not nursing anymore, I thought that might help. I am hopeful this will pass soon. W/o a fever, cold or any other symptoms I have no clue where to go. He’s diapers are so loose, but yet not so frequent, and he still wants to eat and drink. Thought not eating a ton (or as usual) he wants to eat. And he’s drinking great. So go-figure. We’ll see how he is tomorrow.

Had a good day of Blockus and Wii, drawing and movies. I love those kinda days with the kids, and enjoy the down time for myself. I have been pretty pooped lately. I think it’s time to start turning in far earlier than I have been lately. The belly is growing and baby’s super active. I feel hungry every 2-3 hours and it’s tough to keep up! But so eager and looking forward!

And on that note…. I think I will do as I suggest and hit the hay.

Yesterday the city came out and took down this amazingly beautiful elm. I had seen the big purple spray-painted spot predicting this poor tree’s fate, but seriously…. nothing makes that kinda thing easy on me. I get very emotional when seeing a tree come down like that. There is something just insanely murderous about the process, the aura and feelings… The sound of the chipper…. more than words can describe.

The view from our window BEFORE:

The view from our window AFTER the murder:

This amazing tree:

And it’s grave site:

Enough said for tonight.