Aches and Pains

Well it has been about 5 weeks now and I am still in pain. I called the dr and let him know again that my medicine wasn't working, so he told me to stop that one and he gave me a new arthritis medication to try. He also made me an appt for the reumetologist for Jan 2. I really I hope I don't have to wait until then to get some relief. My family dr still hasn't tested me for Lyme Disease so I think he should rule that out first.

I start my new job on December 10th and I really don't want to be sitting at a desk all day which will make me stiff and sore.

Speaking of my new job, we took Tyler on a tour of the day care he will be going to. He absolutely loved it. His cousin Hayden goes there and will be in his class, our neighbors little boy goes there, his cousin Chase and his cousin Wyatt, so he knows quite a few kids. Plus it's not just unstructured playtime. They have some curriculum too. They learn their ABC's, numbers, colors, and shapes. Which we have been working on at home. They also help with potty training, so I hope he sees the kids at school doing it and he will continue to do it at home. Right now he goes on the potty part of the time and only pee, but I am hoping it will help him go all of the time.

Tyler's Favorite

I know sometimes it is hard to get our toddlers to eat what we are eating...esspecially something that is good for them. Two of Tyler's favorite foods are meat and beans. So Chili works very well as a meal in our house.

My cousin Jill's Chili is my absolute favorite and I would like to share this receipe with all of you in hopes that it will be a favorite of yours as well.

Cook 1 lb hamburger
add 1 chopped Green Pepper
1 chopped onion
1 large can kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 large can baked beans
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 can sweet corn
chili powder
cumin
salt and pepper

Let simmer until heated through.

We usually add a little cheese to the top and eat with Frito Scoops or Tostitos Scoops. Great for football games or just a cold day! Enjoy!

Bryce

I am usually posting about Tyler and some sort of issue or problem we are having or I post about myself and some sort of issue or problem I am having, so poor Byrce usually gets left out. He is such a good baby. So I am dedicating this post to him.

Bryce is now almost 7 months old. He is rolling over, sleeping through the night, putting his own binky in and truning his music on in his bed when he does wake up. Now our little guy is eating cereal, veggies and fruit and loving it. He even feeds himself crackers. I can not believe how fast it goes.

In no time flat he will be crawling for the first time, saying his first word, getting that first tooth and taking that first step. I can't wait to see all of his firsts like we did with Tyler. This time however I will be back at work and Bryce will be with my mom so I am hoping I won't miss any of them.

So this post goes to our little guy Bryce who is always smiling, almost never cries, he's a great sleeper and fantastic eater...the best baby boy. One that makes you want 10 more like him. Not really 10....maybe 1. Maybe.

Another Year Older!

Yesterday was my 26th birthday and it turned out to be a great one! I received two pices of great news! First, I don't have RA, Lupus or Lyme's. I have a viral infection that went into my joints, so my dr. put me on a new prescription. Second, I got the call from the bank I applied to and they hired me for a Branch Sales Associate position. I start on December 10th, so I have 2 1/2 more weeks of being a stay at home mom. I have mixed emotions about this. On one hand I am sad to leave the boys after being home for 2 1/2 years, and on the other I need to get out of this house and have adult interaction. Plus we can really use the money. Money has been so tight the last couple of years living on one income.

My husband treated me with some great presents this year. First he gave me a present charm for my charm bracelet. Then he gave me a certificate for Ballroom Dance Lessons, which I have been asking for. I know he really doesn't want to go and he is afraid he will look silly, but he is going for me. And then he surprised me with flowers. Not just any flowers, but my favorites, Gerber Dasies, Roses, and Lilies....all in pink! The same flowers he sent me on our wedding day! So sweet.

Tyler spent the whole day singing Happy Birthday Mommy! So cute! I love it. Tonight we are celebrating my Birthday with the kids, since last night we had Bible study. We are just getting pizza and wings and my favorite, a ColdStone ice cream cake! I am so excited! For tonight my diet goes out the window!

Update

Well, I still have this horrible joint pain. The prescription the dr gave me hasn't helped a bit. My Dr. called on Sunday afternoon with some of my test results and everything he has gotten back so far has been good. He is still waiting for the arthritis test and the Lupus test. Another possibility is Lyme's Disease. Someone mentioned this to me and I thought that would be out of the question until we found a tick on our dog on Saturday morning. Great! So if my test results all come back good then he will take more blood work to check for Lyme's.

Needless to say, I am scared. I have two small children to take care of and the pain is bad enough, but to have RA, Lupus or Lyme's, I can't imagine.

I am hoping for some good news!

Today is my 26th birthday!

I received a call last night from a company I interviewed with a couple weeks ago. I had three interviews and I have been waiting to hear. Well last night the HR lady called and asked if I was still interested and said they would really like me to work for their company. So she said she would go ahead and do my credit check and background check and call this morning to officially offer me the job. Cross your fingers everything goes well! Hopefully more good news for my birthday!

Wednesday Weigh In

Well This Wednesday after changing my eating habits, taking my omega-3 and continuing to exercise I lost 3 lbs. I am finally over my plateau, but I am still in major pain. My joints ache more than ever. When I go up and down the steps to carry the kids to or from naps I feel like my legs are going to give out. Not a good feeling.

So on Thursday I decided to give my family Dr. a call. I went in yesterday morning and he said that he thinks that my pain is a form of arthritis that you get after having a cold. The arthritis should be temporary, but he gave me some arthritis medication to take in the meantime. I also had so blood work just to confirm that is what it is and not real arthritis or RA.

The medication hasn't kicked in yet after three doses, but I am hopeful that it will soon.

No Pain No Gain?

Like I've said before I have been trying to get back in shape after having Bryce in May. Well the last two weeks I have been trying to step it up. I have been following my Weight Watchers Points and started doing my eliptical machine 3 or 4 days a week and weight training and abs 2 times a week.

Well in those past two weeks I have lost 0lbs. Not to mention that my whole body hurts. Not that good pain that you know you had a great workout and you can alomost feel the results, but aching of all my joints. Eliptical machines are supposed to be low impact, but my hips, knees and ancles hurt sooooo bad.

This past Wednesday I finally gave in and went to my chiropractor for an adjustment and some advice. Dr. David asked what I had been doing and what I have been eating. And well it turns out that I have been eating too many grains. While I have been staying within my points at weight watchers, I still had been eating whole grain cereal for breakfast, a sandwich on whole wheat bread for lunch and a side of either whole wheat pasta for dinner or brown rice. Apparently grains contain omega-6 whichcause inflammation. So since I have been working out so hard and eating all these grains my body has been in major pain. Now I have to increase the amount of omega-3 I take everyday and cut back on the grains which means no bread, pasta or rice. I am however going to keep my cereal I eat everyday because I don't like anything else for breakfast. I am not cutting our carbs completely, no atkins diet for me. But the Dr. said it will reduce my pain and get me over this plateau.

I will let you know how it goes. Wednesday is weigh in day at Weight Watchers.

Mamma's boy!

We just started Tyler in swim lessons two weeks ago and he absolutely loves it! He enjoys kicking, splashing around and playing with the other kids. The first week my husband Jim took him and I must say I was a little jelous because I wanted to see Tyler enjoy this experience. Well after his first lesson began saying that he wanted mommy to take him to his second lesson and I needless to say was thrilled. I couldn't wait. I even bought a new bathing suit from gap.com since mine(thank God) don't fit! I also felt a little bad because this was supposed to be daddy and Tyler time. Well Tyler and I went and it was great. Tyler has a blast jumping in the pool and learning how to kick and scoop in order to swim. When we got home we told daddy what fun we had and daddy of course asked who was going to take him next week and Tyler responds,"mommy". Now daddy is a little upset.

Later on the same day while I was working out on our eliptical machine, Tyler got his finger stuck in the heating vent on the floor while playing with one of his trucks. He was screaming and crying for mommy and wasn't happy until he was cuddling in my arms....so cute!

Up until this point Tyler has been a real daddy's boy, but this week he is finally wanting mommy! I am so happy!

On another note Tyler has his second ear infection since he got his tubes back in March and I think he must have gotten water in his ear during swim lessons. :( We just have to be more careful when putting his ear plugs in.

Get Back to Normal Size

It is really tough to loose that baby weight. I had gained weight right after Jim and I got married. Then I pretty much immediately got pregnant with Tyler. I never lost all of the weight I put on after him, so when I got pregnant again with Bryce, the weight just piled on. So after having Bryce, three years after getting married I was 85 lbs over weight. Right after having baby number 2 I lost 20 lbs pretty much not doing anything different. Then it stopped coming off and I new I had to put in some hard work. on July 11th I joined Weight Watchers. The weight started coming off immediately, but quickly stopped. I didn't have much time to work out so I hit a plateau. I knew I had to start incorporating some exercise if I wanted to hit my goal. So I started to do a couple work out vidoe's and walked when I could. One day a week I meet my cousin Jill at her house, and Tyler, Bryce and I go for a walk with Jill and her little girl Haven. Jill lives on a lake so we walk the 3 mile lake every Wednesday before I go to Weight Watchers. So far at WeightWatchers I have lost 17 1/2 lbs wich brings me to a total of 37 1/2 lbs. I still have 47.5 lbs to go.

It is a constant struggle for me to lose weight. We have to keep all snacks out of the house(with exception to holidays and parties). We buy lots of produce, lean meats and low fat snacks. This forces our whole house to eat healthy. It is still hard to fit in workouts, with two little ones and trying to keep up on house work.

I would like to hear from other mothers out there who are trying to lose weight or have lost the baby weight. How did you do it or what are you doing? How do you keep your families healthy?

Halloween Fun!

When I was a little girl, our family had an annual Halloween Party for all the neighborhood kids. We always had such a great time getting dressed up, playing games and having good treats. We haven't had that party in probably 15 yrs. So this year I decided I wanted to reinstate our annual Halloween Party for the newest generations of our family and neighborhood kids.

I planned for about a month to pull this party together. I had invitations made at vistaprint.com. They had great invitation layouts that you can just inupt all your info into as well as having great prices. You can't beat it! Sorry Kristy! I researched different recipies for cute Halloween treats. I looked up Halloween games online and found some really fun games.

This whole week I spent gathering the tools I needed, grochery chopping and cleaning the whole house top to bottom(I wish our house always could look like this). Yesterday was thie big day and I had a lot to do to get ready. On top of that I babysit my cousin's little girl Hayden on Thursday's who is 2. I vacuumed all the rooms, made brownies, made cup cakes, made dip for the chips, mopped the floor, and set up everything. Then I had to shower when my husband got home, get dressed, get Ty dressed, and get Bryce dressed, just as all of our guests started to arrive.

We had an awesome time! We played some relay games, candy corn relay, ghost waiter, wrap your mummy, then we played musical chairs, but with a twist, then we bobbed for apples. Even the adults came dressed up and played the games. Jim and I were the Spartan Cheerleaders from SNL. Tyler was a race car driver, and Bryce was a little turtle.

I think this will be an annual event again! A tradition at the Casey house.

What traditions do you have in your homes?

Children of God

My husband and I were raised in two different religions, he was raised Catholic and I Methodist. However I don't feel like they are that different, they both have the same foundation of God and his son Jesus Christ. I decided after having our first son Tyler Christened that I would convert to Catholisism. The classes I went through brought me closer to the lord.
Right now my husband and I are in a Bible study with a group of other parents. We are watching a video series called Sheparding the Child's Heart by Ted Tripp. The series has been very interesting thus far and gets me to thinking each week about teaching our children about the Lord. This weeks lesson was about the goals we set for our children. This was a tough week...the topic presented was very heavy.

What are the goals we set for our children? Do get a good education? To be in lots of activities to gain skills? To be an Olympic athlete? To be good? To have manners? To know and love God?
Well Ted Tripp mentioned how we fill our children's live's with so much "stuff". Dance class, swimming lessons, baseball practice, toys, video games all things that take up time away from their primary purpose of being a child of God.
This lesson made me feel really guilty. No my children aren't in sports yet, they aren't in school yet, they don't play video games yet, but Tyler does have too many toys....way too many toys. And he also spends way too much time with the TV. I need to start limiting how much he watches. We do read lots of books and sing songs.
I think his point, which he took to the extreme, was that we need to pick one goal(God) and focus on that and everything else will come from that. I feel like our kids need a balance, not too many activities, not too many distractions and God in their lives.
But I have the question how do we nurture our toddlers? How do we teach our children to know God? Here's what I do with Ty now, we pray at meals, we pray together at bed time, we read his bible and sing bible songs and he attends church with us each week. What do you other mom's out there do to nurture your children?

Trip to Buffalo

This past weekend we took the kids and packed up the car for a trip to Buffalo to visit my husband's brother, his wife and they're little girl Aubrey. It is a 5 hour ride from our Northeastern Pa home to Buffalo. And if you've ever taken a trip with a two year old or a 5 1/2 month old or both you know how crazy it can be. We packed up practically the whole house, diapers, food, pillows, blankets, clothes, books, toys, beds ect. Anything you might possibly need. We made sure to leave right after both kids were fed and changed. The trip went pretty well, Ty talks up a storm until he fianlly gives in and takes a nap. Bryce pretty much slept the whole time until he needed to eat. We had a nice visit, playing games, visiting Niagra Falls, shopping, eating in and out and going to church on Sunday morning.

The trip home however was a little different. We were all very tired from not getting much sleep. Ty had woken up at 4:45 in the morning screaming because he didn't know where he was. He was terrified and would not go back to sleep. He woke the whole house. So our day started very early. We took the kids to church with us like we normally do, but Ty could not sit there. By 9:30 mass he had almost been up for 5 hrs and need a nap badly. Jim had to take him out and walk him around, luckily it was almost 80 degrees out. The preist was long winded and mass seemed to last forever. Needless to say Ty took a very good nap on the way home as well as did Byrce...almost three hrs. I kept drifting off, really wanting a nap, but I kept myself awake to help Jim stay awake. We kept our eyes posted for the nearest Starbucks for some much needed caffine. It took us about 3 hrs to find a coffee shop between Buffalo and home. But those Java Chip Frappachino's did the trick! Next time we need to stay for more than one night. Over all the boys did very well.

I'm Back!

Yes it has been about 5 months since I have written. Which means that Bryce is 5 1/2 months old! He is doing great as am I, my husband and Ty. Tyler adjusted to being a big brother fast. He helps bring me diapers for the baby, throwing away diapers, putting the binkie back in the babies mouth, making the baby laugh and consoling Bryce when he cries. You wouldn't believe how fast your toddler will grow up once they are a big brother or sister.

Well having two is tougher than one, but it seems to be getting easier or I am just getting better at it. Bryce is such an easy baby. Remember how I was terrified of having a new born again? Well Bryce is so easy that I am going to miss having a baby once he is bigger. He rarely cries, he sleeps through the night, he is always smiling and giggling, just a very pleasant baby.

It's been a long time!

Ughh....It's been along time, but here I am. Bryce is now almost 7 weeks old. It's tough to sit at the computer for more than a few minutes at a time. I have a new found respect for mothers...esspecially mothers of more that 1. Having a toddler and a newborn is crazy busy.

Bryce does not like to sleep during the day unless he is being held. Everytime he falls asleep and I put him down he immediately wakes up. Tyler on the other hand has gotten used to the baby, but he keeps telling me to put him down.

Luckily they both sleep good at night. Bryce usually gets up once during the middle of the night, around 2 ish. Then gets up for good around 6. Ty has also been getting up at 6, so sometimes I have to have both of them on my lap at the same time.

Jim is a teacher and therfore is done with work until late August, however he works a summer job at the JCC camp with Autistic kids, coaches legion baseball, plays softball on Monday nights and plays baseball for a collegiate league a couple times a week. s if that isn't enough he is starting to tutor a homebound student in July. So even though he has his summers off from school he doesn't really have them off. But we need the money since I am a stay at home mom and now we have two kids.

I am thinking about going back to work. It is really tough living on one income with the two kids, and sometimes I think I would appreciate them more if I wasn't with them all day. I'm not sure however if I want to go back to work full time or part-time. Daycare is so expensive and I really don't want them to be there full time. Esspecially Bryce, he is too young to be with someone else full-time. So I don't know what to do.

Tragedy

This has been a tough week for our whole family. My cousin John Edward Rielly, 18, was killed in a tragic car accident. The weeks leading up to this car crash were almost equally as hard for his parents and our family. This year John had dropped out of school, his senior year. He moved out and into a home with his girlfriend and her parents, against his parents wishes. John began doing drugs. At my grandmother's funeral in March, he looked like death. His face was sucken in, he was thinner than ever and looked awful. Our whole family agreed he must be on drugs. Well the week before last he was driving around our neighborhood, and I must tell you everyone on our road is either family or friends, so he was spotted walking up and down the road and driving up and down our road with two cars full of his friends. He asked a couple neighbors for money. We were all worried. The first place a drug addict will go for money or steal from is family. Well the next day his parents found their guns were missing. His mother somehow got him to the crisis center at the hospital where he tested positive for heroine, meth and pot. John tried escaping from the hospital, but was caught fairly quickly due to the fact he had no shoes or shirt. The hospital sent him to a near by rehab center. Choices (the rehab center) kept John for 5 days before releasing him. Just my opinion, but it takes more than 5 days to get off of heroine and meth. On Sunday morning I recieved a phone call from my cousin Kara, Johns aunt, who told us the horrible news. John had died in a car crash. At 7 am he had been driving erratically passed a car crash. The police decided to chase him. He tried passing another car and hit another state trooper head on. John was ejected from the car and died from internal injuries. The other boy in the car died in the fiery blaze, and the trooper was life flighted to a hospital nearby for emergency surgery. Well, each day we learn a little more. Not from the police, but from the tv and the newspaper. They just released the other boys name yesterday, Matthew Harrison, 19. The boys sister called my cousin Kelly, Johns mother and told her that they were leaving her house. She lived 3 miles from the site of the crash. She also said that her brother not John was driving. The sister also told Kelly that John had confessed to the police that he stole the guns. The police called John and told him that if he returned the guns then his parents would not press charges. This is what John was doing when the police were chasing him. He had gone to this girls house and picked up the guns to take back to his parents, and ironically they somehow got chased by the police and got in a car accident. So instead of John being alive right now and getting help we will be putting him in a grave.

I believe that the system has failed John. Choices should have kept John in the hospital and helped him to get clean. My cousin Kelly begged them to keep him. The police should have arrested him for stealing the guns, but they had no proof. Then when he confessed they should have arrested him instead of telling him to return the guns. If they arrested him he would have been off the streets and able to detox in jail. The police also should have not chased these two teenage boys who they thought were acting funny. They said the two slammed on their breaks as they were driving past another accident, but did not stop. They had no reason to chase them, they could have followed the boys until they got the license plate number and followed up with them later. Now there are two boys dead and a trooper who may never walk again. I am not saying John was innocent, he had made a lot of bad choices lately, but he was trying to right a wrong. He didn't need to lose his life.

Tyler and Bryce

Well everyone says that two is easier than one, I believe this to be false. Maybe when Ty is4 and Bryce is 2 it will be easier because they can play together and keep each other entertained, but right now it is tough. Tyler loves his brother, he always is asking "where baby" or "where Bryce"? Or he says "let's go Bryce" or "come on Bryce". But Tyler is very jelous and has been acting out, especially when I need to be holding the baby to feed him or when I am changing him, or when I am trying to get Bryce to sleep. Ty has been doing things he would have never done before such as climbing on top of the hot tub to play with toys we put up there, climbing on top of the futon and turning the thermostat up to 80, pouring the dog food into the dog water, coloring on the walls, ripping his Notre Dame penant in half, and the list goes on and on. I have been trying to keep him in his daily routine as much as possible. In the morning when he wakes up, I go in his room to get him, get him his juice and we watch cartoons. I have been taking him outside to play and for walks as much as I can, now that the weather is warm again. And when he is acting up I try to have some one on one time with him, if time allows.

Bryce has been really good so far. He sleeps alot, and sleeps much better at night than Ty did. Bryce loves to eat, if he is awake, he wants to eat. Although he has started eating an oz and falling asleep and then waking an hour or two later and wanting to eat again. This has got to stop. He is also pooping constantly. It seems like 10 times a day, a little bit at a time, and then as soon as I change him he wants to be changed again! For a little guy, boy does he stink!

Me I am feeling good. A bit tired, but good. I have started my diet yesterday. I'm not doing so good. It is really tough to diet after nine months of pretty much letting myself eat whatever and whenever I want. Started with this weeks shopping trip there will be no more soda, no more chips, no more ice cream in our house. Once what we have is gone it's gone. There will be many more fruit and veggies in our diets. I think this will help my energy levels increase a lot. I gained 25 lbs with this pregnancy, not too bad, but I still had a few pounds left from my first pregnancy with Ty, so I have some work ahead of me. Wish us all luck!

Welcome Bryce Thomas Casey!

Well, he's here! Sorry it took me so long to share the good news. Friday I went to the hospital for a non-stress test. I was on the monitor for about an hour, when the dr. decided that he was going to induce labor. Due to a lack of nurses I wasn't induced until 12:30 PM. Everything went well and went very quickly. Too quickly for an epidural. If you know me at all I am a huge baby when it comes to pain. I see no reason to suffer if you can have an epidural. I had told them all day that I wanted an epidural, but when it came time I dialated too fast. The contractions where storng and very close together and I was terrified. At about 3:20 the Dr. came in and checked me and I was fully dialated and ready to go. I started pushing at 3:27PM and at 3:32PM we had a healthy baby boy! Yes it only took 5 minutes to push him out! Bryce weighed 7lbs 12 oz and was 20 inches long.
We are both doing great. I feel much better this time than when I had Ty. Second time was so much easier and I attribute that to doing it natural.
Tyler also loves his new brother, but he is starting to get jelous. He's been acting out, doing things he would have never done. Jim and I have been trying to pay as much attention to him as possible and doing things that we know he will really enjoy such as playing outside, taking walks, and I even took him to see the horses the other night. His big cousin Karisa took him on the horse with her, which he loved! He's our little daredevil. I know it will take him sometime to adjust to the baby and not being the center of our world. But it kills me to see him so hurt. He will love having a little brother to play with in a year or two,which I will love too.
It may take me longer between posts, but I will try and post as often as possible!
So far Bryce loves to sleep so we are getting a good night sleep, but I don't want to jinx myself!

Is today the day?

Today might be the day! I went to the dr's on Wed and everything was good. I was already 2 cen. dialated, he is 7 1/2 lbs, and in head down position. Dr Kim did a non-stress test and he was concerned that the baby wasn't moving a lot so he scheduled another appt for Thursday. Again on Thursday I had a non-stress test and he was even less active than on Wed. I was sure it would be different because Kim and I had gone for lunch at a mexican restaurant, shopping and then to Starbucks. Well, he wasn't and Dr Kim still seemed concerned. He scheduled another non-stress test at the hospital this morning. I need to be there between 7 and 7:30, my test is at 8 and if baby still is not active then he will be inducing labor. I am scared and excited all at the same time. I am worried about Ty. I feel like it is so cruel giving him a new sibling. So many people have more than 1 child, and I want him to grow up with brothers and sisters, but I can't help feeling like he is going to get pushed aside and be very hurt. Did any of you other mom's feel this way when going on baby number 2? I am sure these feelings are normal.?

I think Tyler knows something is going to change. He has been very clingy lately. He wants to be held and carried everywhere. He snuggles much more, rocking in the chair with me while he drinks his juice or watching cartoons sometimes for way too long. But you see he was never a cuddler, and I really enjoy snuggling with him. And this morning we got a wake up call from him at 5:30! He never gets up this early.

Where are you?!?!? Bryce???

Well I made it through the wedding this weekend and the display shower. Thank God! And everything went well with both.
The baby has decided that he is going to stay in there at least for now. I have 11 days until my actual due date. As of this week he should be around 7 1/2 lbs. This is starting to scare me. I know, I know many women have babies that are 7, 8 or 9 lbs. But Tyler was only 6 12 1/2. So I am nervous about having a larger baby. Although, Tyler was really small and looked so fragile. A bigger baby wouldn't quite be so fragile. Maybe it would be nice to have a little meat on his bones.
This brings me to my next dilema. Jim and I have had many people lately tell us that Bryce is a girls name or that they know a girl named Bryce, and then we saw a girl in the news paper named Bryce. So what do you think? Does Bryce scream girl to you? Do you think it sounds like a boy name? I couldn't find Brice or Bryce under girls names in any baby books, only under boys. So we need your help!

Wedding Season Has Begun

Tomorrow night is my first big wedding for this wedding season. Tomorrow I will be 38 weeks pregnant. Bryce has decided to wait, at least for now. I went to the Dr's yesterday and Dr. Kim says that I am not ready. What that means I am not sure. Baby needs to wait until Monday, April 30th. I have the rehearsal tonight, wedding tomorrow night, off on Saturday and then a display shower on Sunday. So Sunday night or Monday will be fine with me! I will keep everyone updated to baby and my progress.

No Baby Yet!

Well it was a beautiful weekend. We spent a lot of time out doors, taking walks, playing with the ball, going to see the horses, playing with my aunts puppy, and grilling out. We also went shopping and out to eat. Lots and lots of spicy foods. I am trying to coax Bryce out!
I know I have 2 1/2 weeks left, but you see I am a wedding planner and have a wedding scheduled for this weekend. So Bryce needs to come out by Tuesday or stay in until Sunday. I am terrified that he will show up the day before or day of the wedding, so I have tried almost every natural induction method. Spicy food, walking, some streches, sex, basil and oregano, foot massages, basically anything I could think of or have read about within reason.
Have any suggestions? Maybe something that worked for you or a friend? I would love to hear from you!

Coming Soon!

Here is an update as to the progress of baby #2! Tuesday we had our final ultrasound to make sure everything is ok and that the baby is in the head down position. Well everything looked great, he's in the right position, still a boy, and he already weighs 6lbs 6 oz with three weeks to go.
Then on Wednesday we went to see Dr. Kim for my weekly check-up. Babies heart rate is good, I only gained 2 lbs, and my cervix is already opened. Since I had Ty two weeks early and he weighed 6lbs 12 1/2 oz, and the fact that my cervix is opened, Dr Kim believes that I will go within the next week or two!
Yesterday, which was Thursday I started having contractions in the afternoon. Nothing regular, but contractions none the less. Plus I had a chiro appt today which sent me into labor with Tyler. Then my mom, my cousin Kara and my husband all noticed that my stomach had dropped. I thought this is it. I will be in the hospital tonight. But no cigar!
My husband really doesn't want me to have the baby today though on April 20th. First with the whole "smoking up" conotations and then today is also the 8th year anniversary of the Columbine shootings. Not the best day for a birthday I guess.
The rest of the weekend is supposed to be beautiful, in the 70's so I will probably go and be stuck in the hospital all weekend! That's ok. I don't mind, I am ready to go! Wish me luck!

Power Outage!

Can you believe this weather? Sunday night into Monday morning we were predicted to get snow. I thought that it would stay rain and we would wake up to no white stuff, but I was wrong! Monday brought cold, wind and it snowed alllll day! We lost power at 6am and it did not return until 12:15pm. So what do you do with a sick toddler for 6 hrs without power.....no heat, no TV, no cd player, no water, not hot food? Well first I dressed him really warm. I gave him his medicine and some juice and he set out to play. He actually entertained himself pretty well. We did some puzzles, he lined up all of his cars one way, and then all of his cars the other way. Then he filled up his little shopping cart with all of his cars and pushed it around. He did try and put the TV on a couple times, and tried putting on his music to dance, he was confused as to why this didn't work. He whined a little, I showed him that they were "broken" and that even the lights wouldn't turn on. Luckily he took a nap from 10 until 11:30, then we had an early lunch. Before long lights came back. But, not for too long, by 4:45Pm they went back out and for good. The electric company said they would not return until Tuesday morning. So I had been through enough torture. I could not just sit there until it was time for bed, so we went to my friend Kim's house. We ordered out pizza and wings, played with her puppy, and watched some reality TV. Ty was not too happy about not being in his own bed. When he wanted to go to bed, he didn't mean there he meant he wanted to go home. He would not lay down. It took about 2 hrs until he finally passed out. We had to take turns laying with him, listened to his Celine Dion CD twice, and take a few trips up and down stairs. Around 10:30 my mom called to say that the power had returned, but Ty was already asleep. We went to bed around 11:30 and when we got there, Ty was awake, coughing and began crying. We couldn't calm him, so we decided to take the journey home. We returned home at 12:15am. Ty took his cough syrup and Tylenol, we changed his diaper and he climbed right into his big boy bed. We once again turned on his cd and said our goodnights. To our surprise he actually went to sleep and did not wake until 7 am this morning! Uhh....what a night! Glad that's over.

Top 10 Products That Make My Life More Fun

Recently I have bought or received some products that I love. They either make my life easier or more fun! Here is a list of my top ten products!

10. My new Vera Bradley lunch bag. My friend Kim bought this for my one day while shopping for baby #2. We bought it to keep bottles cold in my new Vera Bradley Diaper Bag!
9. Dawn Dish Detergent. If you have been reading my blog, you would remember that Dawn was the best product to take 2 year old spit-up stains out of baby clothing! Wow! What a great product. Not only does it clean dishes and stains on clothes but it also cleans jewelry. Thanks to my friend Kristy and Jim’s grandmother Dorothy for recommending Dawn.
8. Crayola Bathtub Paints. Tyler has so much fun playing in the bath tub with his bathtub paints. They also help me to reinforce him learning his colors!
7. Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion. This lotion keeps my skin soft, no more itch. And if any of you mothers who are pregnant have itching bellies, this works on the belly too. I also think it has helping with my stretch marks from baby #1.
6. Aveeno Bath Wash. Aveeno bath wash also keeps my skin soft. It is all natural, no fragrances, no soap. It is made out of oatmeal and has a natural pleasant fragrance.
5. My new Vera Bradley Diaper Bag! Thank you again Kim! Kim bought me this super cute diaper bag for the new baby! I couldn’t wait to use it so it’s been in use for a couple weeks. It’s the new Capri Melon pattern, which if any of you know is pink. Yes I have boy, and am having another. But pink is my favorite color and since I can’t buy it for my boys I might as well have pink for myself! I’m the one who has to carry it right? However, upon seeing the bag, my husband remarks, “I’m not carrying that”. I didn’t even think about Jim having to carry the bag. Oh well!
4. Baby Einstein- Babies First Signs Video. For Easter we bought Ty this video and he loves it! The video is only 27 minutes long which is perfect. It is very entertaining and after only a few times he has already caught on to half of the signs.
3. Chalk board paint. Last weekend we painted Ty’s room with chalk board paint in a small area of his room. He has had a blast coloring and I can color with him. It also gives me another creative way to teach him his ABC’s, numbers, colors and shapes.
2. Clinique Moisturizing Sheer Tint. I love this stuff! First it cuts down on my number of steps in the morning, since the moisturizer has color added to it. Second it had SPF 15, so it cuts down on the amount of sun and wrinkles I receive on my face.
1. Clinique All About Eyes. This product is designed to reduce puffiness and circles around your eyes. Plus it keeps your eye area hydrated to keep wrinkles away. I am still pretty young with no wrinkles yet and I would like to keep it that way!

Meatloaf again?

It’s not just meatloaf! Its meatloaf patties! I found this really good recipe from Rachel Ray in the April issue of Parents magazine! She paired it with smashed potatoes. So yummy!

Meatloaf Patties
½ cup bread crumbs
1 tsp. cumin
½ tsp. all spice
2 Tbs. low fat milk
1 egg, beaten
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 rounded Tbs. tomato paste
2 Tbs. chopped parsley
1 lb 90% lean ground beef

Mix all ingredients and form in to 4 or 5 patties. Heat a frying pan on medium high. Coat pan with vegetable cooking spray. Add patties to pan and cook for 5 minutes. Flip, reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes on other side

Smashed potatoes
8-10 small red or white potatoes
½ cup reduced fat sour cream
¼ cup skim milk
2 Tbs. butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Clean and quarter potatoes. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook for 10-12 minutes. Drain and return to hot pot. Add sour cream, milk, butter, salt and pepper and mash with a potato masher.

We also cooked carrots to add to this meal. Best of all even my toddler loved the patties and carrots! The patties stay very moist!

30 Days and Counting

Wow! 30 days left! I can't believe it. And boy am I nesting big time! I have been washing clothes, blankets and sheets. Putting our new bouncer together (Thank you, Kristy!), packing my hospital bag, buying a new comfy outfit to wear home from the hospital and cleaning like crazy! Today I had my weekly check-up, nothing new really. I only gained 1 lb! Wahoo! Unlike last week, when I gained 8 1/2. Next week I will have another ultra-sound and I can't wait to see this little guy again.

We also have pretty much decided on his full name. Bryce Thomas Casey. I think it has a nice ring to it and it goes well with Tyler James Casey. Don't you think?

Educating Toddlers Update

I want to thank Beth from PlaygroupDropout for posting my question about educating toddlers. We received a lot of really good feedback from the mom's out there. I know that Tyler is totally normal for his age. I think he is really smart even if I am his mom. Any way, I was on Babyzone.com and found a quiz called " What's Your Child's Learning Style?". There are three types of learners, auditory, visual and kinesthetic. After taking the test I learned that Tyler is a kinesthetic learner. Kinesthetic learners learn through touch, action, movement and hands on work. This is Ty. He never sits still, he is always in motion. They say the best thing for a kinesthetic learner is unstructured playtime.

Have any of you taken this quiz? I would be interested to hear if you have, and if not please take the test and let me know how the results turn out for you. If you have a kinesthetic learner, what do you do to promote learning?

Holiday Weekend

This is my real first day back to the normal. Today is my husbands first day back to work since last Wednesday. We had a chance to get a lot done. Jim painted Ty's room blue, and then another area with chalk board paint so he can have some fun coloring. I will let you all know how this goes. Will he think he can color on all the walls? Probably. On Saturday we went to an Easter Egg Hunt at the Church. Didn't go so well. Ty had lack of sleep since he had to sleep in our room the night before due to the paint fumes and he doesn't sleep well anywhere but in his own room. Then the "hunt" was scheduled for the same time as his nap so that was also against us. Then they made the kids wait to get started. Yeah right make a bunch of two year olds stand around the area where the eggs are until they blow a whistle. Ty could see the eggs and he tried to pull us, Jim holding him back while he is screaming. Needless to say, by the time they blew the whistle and we put Ty down, he flopped on the ground kicking and screaming! The only two eggs he got we because daddy picked up one to try and get him to follow suit and my cousin Kara picked up another in the same effort to get him going. Did not work! Ty was already too mad! Not a big deal, he doesn't need the candy anyway. Sunday we went to church, where Ty was a little angel. Then it was off for dinner at my aunts and then a visit with Jim's grandmother. Very lovely day. Yesterday, Monday we had a shopping day to gear up for the new baby. With only about a month to go we decided we better get some essentials in case he decides to surprise us early. We bought diapers, extra infant Tylenol, Mylicon, binkeys, and some other stuff. We had a few other stops to make at Best Buy, Target, the Mall and Babies R US. Tyler was awful the whole time! He cried, kicked, creamed and hit. We have taken Tyler out ever since he was born. He has never acted like this before, usually he loves being out, seeing people, getting peoples attention because he is an attention hog. But yesterday he was a bear! So embarrissing. I never thought he would ever act like that. I didn't want to be that parent with the child that is out of control. And seriously Tyler is not normally like that at all. We do not give in to these tantrums and yesterday was no exception. We got him in the car with a struggle. He arched his back, kicked and screamed. He cried so hard I thought he was going to throw up. His veins were popping out, his face red, sweat dripping and he cried half the way home, before falling alseep. He stayed asleep for a little bit when we got home, but woke up screaming again. He cried uncontrollably for 45 minutes. Nothing made him happy. I would like to hear from you and let me know what you do when your toddler acts up in public!

Ear Band-it

With each bath, the ear plug struggle is getting a little better. We still have to endure some screaming and have to hold his arms down while inserting the plugs, but as soon as we get them in he is fine. Tyler once again enjoys his baths; splashing, playing & painting with his finger paints. We bought new ear plugs that are much better the "wax balls", they are called Putty Buddies and come in five colors: red, blue, orange, green and yellow. We also bought a Ear Band-it, suggested by the ENT. Ear Band-it is like a large head band that fits around your childs head and velcrows on top. I am shocked, but he loves it! So cute! Ear Band-it also comes in an aray of colors, blue, teal, pink, purple and red. If you are in need of these products check out: http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/ .

I have pictures to share, but for some reason I can not get them to post. So I will add pictures at a later date!

Question: Educating Your Toddler?

I have been teaching Ty his numbers, colors, and letters. He has been making progress. He tries to sing his ABC's with us, will repeat the letter after us, will repeat the numbers after us, will say he colors after us, he can also tell you the color blue and the color green if you ask him what color is this. I think or thought he was doing well.

Last weekend we were with my husband's family for a Easter Egg hunt and one of his cousin's has a daughter 3 weeks older than Ty. Her mother was bragging that she can recognize and tell you her whole alphabet, she can count 1-15 on her own, she can tell you all of her colors and she is now counting 1-10 in spanish. Are they drilling it in her day and night? Is she lying about how advanced(her word, not mine) her child is? Is she trying to make Ty inferior to her child? Am I not working enough with Ty?

I personally think Ty is doing very well and is right on schedule. He talks up a storm and knows everything we say. He is a little sponge.

Tell me your thoughts on this. Any suggestions? Any comments? Any opinions?

2 Week Dr.s Appt.

Yesterday was my two week check-up with my OB/GYN. Everything is normal for the most part. Besides the fact that I gained 8 1/2 lbs in 2 weeks! Yikes! Before this I had been doing really well. In the begining because I was sick I lost 8 lbs. Then over Christmas, since I was feeling much better, I gained 9 lbs. So, ok, then I was really only up 1 lb. The next month I gained 5lbs. Again the next week I gained 5 1/2....not too bad. The next time only 2 1/2. So I was up to 14 and then this visit add on 8 1/2!! Again I say yikes! I blame it on water retention because my legs and feet are starting to swell. Not as bad as when I was pregnant with Tyler though. Now I start going every week, so I will keep you updated on my progress.

Dry Winter Skin: Update!

I bought two of the products suggested on Good Morning America for dry winter skin. First, Aveeno Skin Relief Body Wash to moisturize and relieve dry, itchy skin, and second Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion to relieve dry skin and moisturizes for 24 hours. These products are supposed to sooth itchy skin.

Day 1

I must say that I took my nice warm relaxing bath then used the lotion. Afterwards my skin was soft and the itch is almost gone after the first use.

Day 2

After the second use, my skin is visibly soft and no more itching.

Day 3

Goodbye dry, itchy skin! After only two or three uses of these two products my skin feels amazing. I am planning on buying the children’s versions for Tyler and new baby to be. If it works on my skin, imagine what how soft it will keep their young skin!

Beautiful Day

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Northeast PA! 70 degress and sunny! Ty and I took full advantage of that. First we went to Hillside Farms for some homemade ice cream. I got their cookies and cream and Ty got vanilla with sprinkles. Ty, however, doesn't really like ice cream. So I ended up eating both of our ice cream. Since he wouldn't eat his treat I got him some of their fresh homemade chocolate milk. So yummy! When we were finished we took a walk down to see their work horses. The whole way home Ty kept saying "horses, again". So when we got back home I took him for a walk up to the horse barn diaganal from our house. We feed the horses some carrots and gave them each a pat. Then we turned around for home. At home we played in the yard with his new soccer ball, went down the slide and swang on the swing. Today will be just as beautiful, so again we will be taking advantage of that before the weather turns cold again tomorrow.

6 Weeks and Counting

As of today I am 34 weeks pregnant, only 6 weeks to go! And since we had Ty two weeks early it could be even sooner! I feel like I am going to explode! I feel huge, like I couldn't possibly get any bigger! The baby is very active, but not really kicking, more like he is running out of room and trying to stretch!

Have I mentioned how scared I am? I am worried about having 2 kids, 2 kids under the age of 2. We already have a very active 21 month old, how will we keep up? How will everything get done, feedings, changing’s, naps, baths and everything else? Tyler is sleeping through the night, so how will I be up all night with the new baby and up all day with Ty too? Will I have time to rest, cook, clean and shower on top of everything else?

I know everyone says your heart grows when you have a second child and that there is enough love for both, but I can't imagine loving anyone as much as I love Ty. Yes he can be a royal pain in the butt and drives me nust sometimes, he he is also the cutest, sweetest little boy in the world. Of course Bryce will probably be a mini Ty, just as cute, just as sweet and just as crazy!

Pregnancy Cravings

Today I was craving chocolate cake something fierce! So I dragged out the cookbooks and searched for a recipe that we had all the ingredients for.

The recipe I decided on was Brownie Pudding Cake, from The Pampered Chef Cookbook- Delightful Deserts.

If you are looking for an amazing ooey, gooey was chocolaty desert, this is it!

Brownie Pudding Cake Recipe
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar- divided
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder- divided
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
3 tbsp butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla- divided
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 3/4 cups boiling water
1 tbsp. powdered sugar- optional

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Combine flour, 3/4 cup of the granulated sugar, 1/4 cup of the cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Add milk, melted butter and 1/2 tsp. vanilla; stir until smooth. Stir in chocolate morsels. Spread batter evenly in baking dish.

2. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together remaining 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa; gradually stir in boiling water and remaining tsp. vanilla. Carefully pour mixture evenly over batter.

3. Bake 30-35 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Serve warm! Great with ice cream or cool whip on top! Enjoy whether you are pregnant or

Stubborn Stains

Tyler was the spit-up king. A lot of his newborn and 0-3 month clothing were stained with yellow marks on the neck and collar.

Now that we know we are having another boy and we are starting to get ready for Bryce, I am trying to get out those stubborn stains. Some of Tylers clothes I have special attachment to, for example outfits we bought for him when we found out we were having a boy. So I started searching the internet for suggestions on home remedies and different products.

1. First I tried making a paste out of baking soda and water. Then you apply to the stain and scrub it in with a toothbrush. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then wash clothes as directed. Maybe this would work on new stains, but not with these nearly two year old stains.

2. Next I tried Zout. A lot of people on the internet sweared by Zout so we bought a bottle. Apply Zout to the stain, take a tooth brush and scrub it in. Allow to sit for a few minutes and wash. The clothes that weren't too bad and whites came out fantastic! But the really bad stains and stains on colored clothing merely faded a bit.

3. Next I tried white vinegar. Saturate the stain with the vinegar, rub it in and wash. Don't bother! It didn't do a thing!

4. Then I tried Cascade. Wet the stained area, sprinkle on the Cascade, scrub it in with a tooth brush and wash. Not only did this not work, it was very messy!

5. I decided to give Zout a second try. Again applying to the stained areas, scrubbing with a toothbrush, allowing to sit for 5 minutes and then washing. After the second attempt of Zout another handful of clothes came clean and the rest of the stains faded a bit more.

6. With the handful of clothes that remained, I tried Dawn dish detergent. Applied Dawn to the site, scrubbed it in and let sit for 5-10 mins before washing again. Dawn took the rest of the stains out!

So after all my hard work scrubbing baby clothes, trying different products and 6 washes Dawn has finished the job! Zout and Dawn seem to be the best products to use on stubborn old spit-up stains. Baking soda, Vinegar and Cascade may work on fresh stains but didn't do anything for me.

Activities for Entertaining a Toddler

As a mother with a young active toddler, I am always looking for activities to keep him entertained. I get bored doing the same things everyday and I know Tyler does too. I searched the web to find suggestions from experts and other parents. Here are some of the ideas that Tyler and I use, some I found and some I made up on my own. Some of the ideas are obvious and others take a little creativity.

1. Take your toddler to story time at your local library. The Lackawanna County Children’s Library has story time each day. Fridays at 10 AM is Laptime story hour for 0-23 month olds. Other area libraries have waiting lists, so call in advance to check this out. I must say I was very nervous to try this one out since Tyler is so active, but I must say that he loves it!
2. Join a playgroup or a toddler class such as Gymboree or KinderMusik. In our area, unfortunately, Gymboree has closed due to lack of turnout. KinderMusik is about $200 for the spring session and I am not sure the classes are going to take place due to lack of interest. Tyler loves other kids, so if you find any other suggestions for me of playgroups please let me know!
3. Arts and Crafts such as finger paints, coloring or make a homemade tambourines. Crayola makes a great finger paint set that only color on ColorWonder paper. The paint does not show up on walls, furniture or your childs hands or clothes.
4. Bake cookies or rice krispy treats. Toddlers love to help mom in the kitchen. Let your toddler pour in the ingredients or stir for you. They feel so important when they get to help!
5. Play with playdough. This is a great opportunity to teach your toddler colors and shapes!
6. Read a book. Reading books are so important to children’s development. For how active my son Tyler is, he still loves to read. Some of his favorites are: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, by Bill Martin and Eric Carle, Freight Train by Donald Crews, and Papa, please get the moon for me, by Eric Carle.
7. Go for a walk. Around the block, to the park, wherever. We live out in the country, we have no parks or blocks to walk around, but we have a horse barn across the road that Ty loves to visit. We feed the horses, pet the dogs and look at the goat, pig and geese. My family also owns a farm on the same road, so we can walk there for a treat. Strawberries, cherries, or apples depending on the season.
8. Have a picnic. Instead of having lunch inside, try a change of scenery. If it is too cold, like right now, why not put a blanket down in the living room and bring lunch in there. Use your imagination!
9. Have a pool party. Again if it’s too cold have one in the bath tub instead. If there is anything that will make my cranky toddler happy it’s playing in the tub!
10. Have a dance party! Turn on the cd player and put on your toddlers favorite tunes. Dance and sing your hearts out!

My Toddler Has a Mind of His Own

Tyler has been picking up everything. Talking so much more, picking up new words, new phrases, making sounds, trying to sing along with songs, learning something new everyday. I love watching him learn and develop into this little person. I love to hear him say "I wuv you" and "I wuv you, mommy". Now he even says please which sounds more like "cheese" and thank you which is "dank you", but totally unprompted. Another phrase I think is so cute is "I sorry, mommy" which he will tell me after he has his time-outs. Yesterday he began singing his "ABC's" maybe not perfectly, but he's trying. He has also begun to tell me when he wants a nap or to go to bed at night. He will say "nap" or "night-night", and we will go up in his room and he will climb in his bed and cuddle with his blankey. Tyler is getting to be such a big boy. He is still my little punkin head. So sweet. I cherish these little moments and look forward to more to come.

Ear Plugs? Yeah Right!

Today was Ty's first bath since having his tubes in. When he takes a bath he cannot get his ears wet, therefore he must wear ear plugs. An alternative to the ear plugs is cotton balls dipped in vaseline.

Thinking that Tyler would more likely keep cotton in his ears than the plugs, Jim and I decide to try them first.

We get Ty undressed, run his bath water and attempt to put he cotton in his ears. He begins screaming and flailing around and immediately bats the cotton out of his ears.

Jim tried putting cotton in his ears to show him that it doesn't hurt, but he could care less. We tried telling him if he wants a bath then he needs to put the cotton in his ears. Then we asked him if he wanted a bath, which he did, but he still didn't want us to come anywhere near his ears.

Next we tried the silicone plugs which look like a large ball of wax. I got one in his ear, but he was wailing and batted the plug right out.

This battle went on for about 20 minutes. Truthfully I was ready to give up on tonights bath and just let him be a stinky baby.

Finally Jim held his arms down while I inserted the plugs. Jim then placed him in the tub while continuing to hold his arms down. I quickly washed him, the whole time Tyler screaming bloody murder.

What a battle! I can't go through this everyday! Now I dread our next bathtime and I am sure Tyler will begin to also. It seems so cruel to basically restrain him so he can take a bath. Tyler used to love his baths. It was my seceret weapon to get him to calm down when is was in a foul mood.

Anyone out there have any suggestions or similar experiences? I would love your feedback!

Today we got tubes....

Today was the big day. Tyler had his appt. this morning at 7:15 am to get tubes in his ears.
Our instructions were no food or drinks after mid-night, we had to bring his blanket and favorite toy, a clean diaper and empty sipper cup for after the surgery.

We arrived early, but their was another boy ahead of us, 19 month old Evan. Tyler was happy and playing with his cars, watching Sponge Bob and playing with the nurses. When it came to Tyler's turn, they took him back, and we waited nervously. The Dr. came back and told us everything went well and Tyler was good. He said that Tyler would be asleep when they brought him back, but he would wake in a few moments. When Tyler woke up in my arms he started thrashing around and whining. His breath smelt of the anesthesia. They told us he wouldn't be able to see straight and would be very confused. He kept rubbing his eyes, crying and biting his blankey(this comforts him). I felt terrible. This poor little guy, what did we put him through. He kept asking for daddy so Jim took him and walked him around, but he kept crying and whining. They got him some juice, but he wasn't too interested, he just wanted to go "bye-bye". The nusre finally let us go, which was probably about 10-15 mins after coming out. By the time we picked up his perscription, he was feeling alot better, and walking straight. Back to his normal playful self.

Now we have to put drops in his ears twice a day for 5 days and put ear plugs in his ears everytime he takes a bath or goes swimming. That will be fun. What are the chances he will let us do that? If he does let us put them in, what are the chances he will keep them in? But if we don't he will have puss come out of his ear everytime he gets water in it and we will spend most of our days at the ENT office.

Pregnancy: The 2nd time around

When I was pregnant with our first son Tyler it seemed so much easier. I had a fairly easy time, no morning sickness, heartburn at the end, and my delivery was a cinch. Afterwards was another story.

This time I had awful morning sickness for about the first 14 or 15 weeks. I felt like it would last forever. It wasn’t just in the morning either; I was nauseous from morning until I went to bed. I was so nauseous that I could barely eat and even lost 9 lbs.

Heartburn this time has been a killer. From day 1, I have had this awful burning sensation in the back of my throat. Everything gives me heartburn! I have to take Zantac twice a day, which most of the time helps. I could also take Tums, but they make me want to yack. Sleeping at night is difficult, three pillows makes the burn bearable.

The second pregnancy you also begin to show much earlier. At 6 months I feel like I did when I was 8 months the first time. Very uncomfortable! I toss and turn at night, from side to side, trying to find a comfortable position.

Baby #2 also seems to be much more active than Tyler was too. This is scary since I have a very active toddler. We are in trouble!

Adventures in Toilet Training: Part 1

At Tyler’s last check-up at 18 months, his Dr. mentioned that we could now begin “potty training”. But he also mentioned that boys are tougher to train than girls and usually aren’t trained until about 3. Tyler has been fairly easy at all the transitions so far. We moved from Kingston to Dallas last spring when Ty was 9 months old and it did not faze him a bit. We took his binkey away from him one night at 11 months and he did not protest at all. At 13 months he was completely off the bottle, and at 19 months he is sleeping in a toddler bed with no problems.

So we went to Babies R Us and bought a potty chair. I took it out of the box and put it together. Tyler took it apart. He wore the inner part as a hat, and tried to get daddy to wear it too. I have read that you should let them get used to the potty chair by dragging it around, playing with it, and doing whatever else they want with it.

We decided to keep it in the bathroom. The last couple of days I have been trying to get him to sit on it a couple times a day, before he takes a bath and after meals. The first time we tried this he sat on the chair (which he thinks is great), then he gets up and runs around a little, comes back and sits for a minute or so, then gets back up. My husband puts him in the bath tub and the little stinker immediately pees.

The next time, again before his bath he sits, then runs in his room, jumps on his bed, comes back in the bathroom and gets in the tub. While my husband was bathing him, I discovered that he had peed on his bed.

Again we tried the potty chair before getting him dressed. He sits on the chair for a little bit, gets up and runs around, sits back down for another minute, gets up and pees on the rug next to the tub.

So far no such luck peeing in the potty; just the tub, his bed and the rug. I will keep you updated as to our progress.

Ear Infections

My son Tyler seems to have chronic ear infections. Starting at 7 months old when he had his first infection up until now at 20 months with his ninth. He has been on antibiotic after antibiotic. Not to mention how much Tylenol and PediaCare we have gone through. We found out he was allergic to amoxicillin when he was on his second round and broke out in hives. We even tried taking him to our chiropractor which is supposed to release some of the fluid. The chiropractor did help for a while, but the infections just keep coming back.

My husband and I learned how to predict whether Ty had an ear infection or not.

1. Tyler will be up on and off all night long screaming; this is not like Tyler, he usually sleeps through the night with no problems. When we go in his room and pick him up and rock him, he will go right back to sleep. However the moment you put him down, he wakes up screaming again. Repeat process as long as it takes.
2. Tyler is constantly picking at his ears and sometimes has scratches or scabs inside.
3. He has started to tell us his ears hurt and wants us to kiss them to make them better.
4. He acts up more often when his ears are bothering him. Tyler throws more tantrums, hits more and isn’t satisfied no matter what we try.
5. Ty stops eating. He refuses food and sometimes drinks.

Well after 9 ear infections (2 in the left and 7 in the right), 9 antibiotics, lots of Dr’s apts. And countless chiropractor apts. We decided to take him to an ENT (Ear Nose and Throat Specialist). The ENT, Dr. Mariotti suggested getting tubes in his ears. Tubes will allow the fluid that keeps getting re-infected to pass through to give Tyler some relief. The procedure takes about 2 minutes, 1 minute for each ear. Afterwards he we feel nothing, no pain, no recovery time, we just take him home.

Hopefully this will cure Tyler’s ear infections and give us some relief too. I will keep you updated!

TIP: I was recently talking with a friend about my son’s problem with ear infections and we were wondering if there was some kind of device that parents could buy to find out if their child had an ear infection before going to the Dr.’s. He sent me an email with a website for just that. It’s called Ear Check. Check it out!

http://www.earcheck.com

Dry Winter Skin

Like with most people, during the winter months I get dry winter skin. Dry skin drives me nuts! I have been itching like crazy.

This morning on Good Morning America, they had a segment on about dry winter skin; what causes it and how to get rid of it.

Causes:
- A lack of moisture in the air mixed with the dry was forced heat in our homes.
- Taking long hot baths or showers.

Suggestions:
- Do not take a hot shower or bath. Take a 5 minute or less warm bath or shower.
- Use unscented non-soap body washes such as Dove or Aveeno.
- After your bath immediately follow with baby oil or Oil of Olay Bath Lotion and pat your body dry.
- Follow with a moisturizer such as Aveeno.
- For super dry areas such as hands and feet cover with Crisco (non buttered flavor) or Vaseline and put socks and gloves over hands and feet to keep the moisture in without making a mess overnight.
- Vaseline can also be used on dry, chapped lips.

TIP: I once read years ago in my Grandmother’s Women’s World magazine a great tip for chapped lips and it works wonders.
- cut a slit in a vitamin E pill and squeeze contents over lips (do this at night, your lips will be super sticky)
In the morning your lips will feel soft and completely healed! I promise!

I am going to try the suggestions from GMA and I will let you know how it goes! Have any suggestions of your own? Please pass them along!

Choosing Names for Baby

Choosing a name for a baby can be a really difficult task. My husband and I are having our second child, second boy, and it took a long time to come up with something we agreed on and that our parents would accept.

So many people think they should put their two cents in when you are choosing a name, friends, parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and others you hardly know. I am always hearing “that name reminds me of” or “I knew some one named that and they”. My husband is a teacher and he will say “every Brandon and Ryan I know are hyper”. I have a cousin Michael and my aunt always says “don’t name your son Michael, Michael’s are always getting into trouble.”

I really like the name Max, but my brother in-law says that it reminds him of the dog on The Grinch. So? Is that supposed to be bad? Again my husband wasn’t fond of Max, and I didn’t really like Maxamillian, Maxwell, Maxim or Maximus, so that was out.

Jim and I really didn’t want to name the baby after anyone and didn’t want to take anyone’s names that are already being used by our families (we both come from really large families). We wanted something different, not the same old Jim, Joe, Bill, Tom (him and his brothers names), but not a weird name either. Another thing we wanted to consider was our son Tyler. We wanted to choose a name that sounded good with Tyler. And since Tyler will only be 23 months when the baby will be born, we need something he will be able to say easily.

We have looked at all the baby name books and nothing really stuck out at us. Then I tried looking at Irish names (my husband’s family is 100% Irish). My mom and I came across the name Bryce. Bryce was one of the names I liked when I was pregnant with Ty, but my husband didn’t like. But I thought I would try it with Jim again. And this time he liked it. So Bryce it is! My mom liked it, his parents liked it (amazing), my friends liked it, but most importantly we liked it.

As for the middle name….that we are still debating.