Yesterday we squashed a few dozen ants in the dining room. This morning, there were a few hundred swarming the kitchen.
This infuriates me. This is the kitchen where I prepare food. The place where my baby eats. Down with the ants!
I spent, I kid you not, the first two and a half hours of my day fighting the battle of me versus the ants. I washed and scrubbed everything in sight. My husband squashed a few dozen ants with his bare thumb (gross). I used Windex on every possible surface I could see because the pest guy said it destroys the ant pheremone trail so they stop following each other to my countertop. Then I called the pest control place, and they said our pest guy will stop by on Tuesday.
In the meantime, we are going to buy more Windex and continue to squash ants in this ongoing battle. *Sigh* For the moment, there are no ants in the kitchen. I have seen a couple of stragglers roaming around since the major combat this morning, but I'm keeping the Windex close at hand and trying not to go into the kitchen too much.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Our little germ incubator
I always knew that people with little kids seemed to catch more colds than I did. I just assumed that this was because they had kids in daycare or in school who were catching and transmitting everything that other kids had.
Olivia and I are in the midst of the third major cold of this year. Before Olivia, I had maybe one or two colds the entire year. This nasty bug is the second one THIS MONTH.
Luckily, Olivia's colds are much less severe than mine. I can cope. I can take all manner of cold medication, decongestants, knock-you-out nighttime kind of things so I can sleep. She can't. As far as I can tell, beyond Baby Vicks and a vaporizer, there's not much you can do for a baby's cold but wait it out. Though snotty and a bit grumpy, Olivia is still sleeping well at night an napping adequately, and for that we are doing a little dance of joy.
Also, we have ANTS. According to our pest control guy, most people are having the same problem. Anyway, he sprayed last week and they disappeared. They are no longer anywhere in the kitchen. This morning, though, they have managed to find something of interest in the dining room. They were climbing all over Olivia's highchair this morning. The highchair is now being quarantined to the screened-in porch until I figure out where the little pests are coming from.
This is so annoying. And I am pretty good at keeping things clean in the kitchen/dining area. It's not like we can keep the place spotless...we have a baby who still spits up a good bit, is eating jar food and manages to be wearing food in some form for most of the day. Not to mention the food she leaves behind in the chair, on the floor, on the counter...
So, we'll be calling the pest guy back to spray some more. In the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions on some baby-friendly products that will keep ants off of her high chair and away from her food?
Olivia and I are in the midst of the third major cold of this year. Before Olivia, I had maybe one or two colds the entire year. This nasty bug is the second one THIS MONTH.
Luckily, Olivia's colds are much less severe than mine. I can cope. I can take all manner of cold medication, decongestants, knock-you-out nighttime kind of things so I can sleep. She can't. As far as I can tell, beyond Baby Vicks and a vaporizer, there's not much you can do for a baby's cold but wait it out. Though snotty and a bit grumpy, Olivia is still sleeping well at night an napping adequately, and for that we are doing a little dance of joy.
Also, we have ANTS. According to our pest control guy, most people are having the same problem. Anyway, he sprayed last week and they disappeared. They are no longer anywhere in the kitchen. This morning, though, they have managed to find something of interest in the dining room. They were climbing all over Olivia's highchair this morning. The highchair is now being quarantined to the screened-in porch until I figure out where the little pests are coming from.
This is so annoying. And I am pretty good at keeping things clean in the kitchen/dining area. It's not like we can keep the place spotless...we have a baby who still spits up a good bit, is eating jar food and manages to be wearing food in some form for most of the day. Not to mention the food she leaves behind in the chair, on the floor, on the counter...
So, we'll be calling the pest guy back to spray some more. In the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions on some baby-friendly products that will keep ants off of her high chair and away from her food?
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
So blessed
Way back in the dark days of infertility, I used to spend a lot of time wrestling with God. I felt this undeniable calling to motherhood, but we kept hitting brick walls in our search for the cause of infertility. I cried out to God in frustration for giving us this desire to start a family and keeping us from fulfilling it.
Slowly, gradually, we opened ourselves to adoption. And then everything happened so quickly. In the blink of an eye, we were parents.
And now, even though infertility is still our cross to bear, it doesn't seem so heavy. We have a beautiful baby girl, one we would never have met had we not had to travel the road of infertility. That fact is not lost on me.
Now, I thank God every day for the infertility that led us to Olivia. We still pray and work to overcome infertility, but if that never happens, we will adopt again. And we will undoubtedly thank God for the continued infertility that would lead us to our next child. Because every child is a gift...a unique an expression of God's love.
We would be thrilled to experience pregnancy and childbirth. But if God's plan, ultimately, is to bring us more children via adoption rather than pregnancy, we will consider ourselves just as blessed.
In the end, our family may end up being smaller than we would have planned it to be. But we are learning to let go of our plan, because God's plan is so much better than our own.
Deep down, I truly believe that we were meant to be Olivia's parents. God led us to her and to her birthmother. And I believe that God will lead us to our next child. I am learning to sit back and take the steps at God's pace, and not mine.
Slowly, gradually, we opened ourselves to adoption. And then everything happened so quickly. In the blink of an eye, we were parents.
And now, even though infertility is still our cross to bear, it doesn't seem so heavy. We have a beautiful baby girl, one we would never have met had we not had to travel the road of infertility. That fact is not lost on me.
Now, I thank God every day for the infertility that led us to Olivia. We still pray and work to overcome infertility, but if that never happens, we will adopt again. And we will undoubtedly thank God for the continued infertility that would lead us to our next child. Because every child is a gift...a unique an expression of God's love.
We would be thrilled to experience pregnancy and childbirth. But if God's plan, ultimately, is to bring us more children via adoption rather than pregnancy, we will consider ourselves just as blessed.
In the end, our family may end up being smaller than we would have planned it to be. But we are learning to let go of our plan, because God's plan is so much better than our own.
Deep down, I truly believe that we were meant to be Olivia's parents. God led us to her and to her birthmother. And I believe that God will lead us to our next child. I am learning to sit back and take the steps at God's pace, and not mine.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
STTN
Olivia has a snotty cold...again. *Sigh* She has a hard time breathing comfortably and gets really irritated and irritable. In the meantime, I don't think I ever got over the last cold, which (if you remember) started around the first of May. I've had this nasty cough and sneezing ever since.
On the plus side, though, our baby girl is Sleeping Through The Night. Yes indeed...usually a solid ten hours or so. This has been going on for about ten days or more, so I can say with confidence that it's true, and not just a one-night fluke.
This required some work on our part. For a couple of months now, Olivia has been waking up at 3:00 a.m. or so, and for a couple of months I have been dragging myself out of bed to feed her. I did this because it was easier than letting her cry. She ate quickly and went right back to bed, so I was usually back in bed in 20 minutes. Life was busy...it was easier this way.
Then Olivia turned six months old. I thought, "Six months...shouldn't she be able to sleep through the night by now?" Then I started paying attention to her cries at 3:00 a.m. She sounded tired. Not hungry, just awake and tired.
So we tried the "cry it out" solution, knowing full well that it could take several days for her to kick the 3:00 a.m. habit.
The first night of CIO was torture for me. I got out of bed and lay on the couch waiting for her to fall back asleep. It took 45 minutes TORTURE. I went back to bed thinking she'd probably wake up again in an hour and I'd probably cave and make her a bottle because PLEASE, I AM NOT INTO THAT MUCH TORTURE. Plus, LET ME SLEEP PLEASE.
But then she didn't wake up again until 7:00 a.m. And when she woke up, she didn't scream for the bottle. She was playing...happily. It wasn't until I heard her musical crib thingie that I knew she was awake. When we went in to get her, she smiled and waved her hands up and down like nothing bad had ever happened in the world, and wasn't it great to be alive and have such cool crib toys?
The next night, she woke at 3 a.m. and cried for 15 minutes. The next night it was five minutes. Then 30 minutes the next night. Then not at all the next night.
She's been sleeping through the night ever since.
Not only that, but she continues to nap well. Over the holiday weekend, she got a bit off schedule. It's hard to nap when there are so many people to see. But she's right back on schedule today. A little fussier than normal, but that's to be expected with the onset of the cold again.
Also, we need to lower the crib mattress. Because our crawly baby is now trying to pull up on things. Oh yes. She is growing up.
On the plus side, though, our baby girl is Sleeping Through The Night. Yes indeed...usually a solid ten hours or so. This has been going on for about ten days or more, so I can say with confidence that it's true, and not just a one-night fluke.
This required some work on our part. For a couple of months now, Olivia has been waking up at 3:00 a.m. or so, and for a couple of months I have been dragging myself out of bed to feed her. I did this because it was easier than letting her cry. She ate quickly and went right back to bed, so I was usually back in bed in 20 minutes. Life was busy...it was easier this way.
Then Olivia turned six months old. I thought, "Six months...shouldn't she be able to sleep through the night by now?" Then I started paying attention to her cries at 3:00 a.m. She sounded tired. Not hungry, just awake and tired.
So we tried the "cry it out" solution, knowing full well that it could take several days for her to kick the 3:00 a.m. habit.
The first night of CIO was torture for me. I got out of bed and lay on the couch waiting for her to fall back asleep. It took 45 minutes TORTURE. I went back to bed thinking she'd probably wake up again in an hour and I'd probably cave and make her a bottle because PLEASE, I AM NOT INTO THAT MUCH TORTURE. Plus, LET ME SLEEP PLEASE.
But then she didn't wake up again until 7:00 a.m. And when she woke up, she didn't scream for the bottle. She was playing...happily. It wasn't until I heard her musical crib thingie that I knew she was awake. When we went in to get her, she smiled and waved her hands up and down like nothing bad had ever happened in the world, and wasn't it great to be alive and have such cool crib toys?
The next night, she woke at 3 a.m. and cried for 15 minutes. The next night it was five minutes. Then 30 minutes the next night. Then not at all the next night.
She's been sleeping through the night ever since.
Not only that, but she continues to nap well. Over the holiday weekend, she got a bit off schedule. It's hard to nap when there are so many people to see. But she's right back on schedule today. A little fussier than normal, but that's to be expected with the onset of the cold again.
Also, we need to lower the crib mattress. Because our crawly baby is now trying to pull up on things. Oh yes. She is growing up.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Or she could be napping because of this...
Since she learned to manipulate her position by crawling, climbing, rolling, etc, Olivia has been very active. She woke up at 5:45 a.m. (after sleeping straight through the night, yeah girl!). After her bottle and diaper and new clothes (yes, mismatched hand-me-downs, but in all fairness, she was trying to roll off the changing table, so I grabbed the first things I could get my hands on), we headed to the living room for play time. It is now 8:00 a.m., and she's in her crib sleeping. This is what she did in the meantime:
Spun round and round looking at all the toys in her exersaucer.
Pitched a fit to be taken out of the exersaucer, only to insist on playing from the toys from outside of it.
Spotted her mirror on the floor.
Ooh, look, there are more toys over here.
Discovering that the coffee table has little doors on it.
Determined to figure out the doors.
Wait a minute, what's this toy I rolled onto?
Oooh, look, there's Mommy. I can climb on her awhile.
I'm exhausted from all that activity. I think I'll take advantage of this nap time and sneak a snooze while I can. Then I'll go in later and probably see something that looks like this:
Oh, hi Mommy. Is your nap over too? I was just playing quietly. Not causing any trouble at all. Aren't I the sweetest angel?
Spun round and round looking at all the toys in her exersaucer.
Pitched a fit to be taken out of the exersaucer, only to insist on playing from the toys from outside of it.
Spotted her mirror on the floor.
Ooh, look, there are more toys over here.
Discovering that the coffee table has little doors on it.
Determined to figure out the doors.
Wait a minute, what's this toy I rolled onto?
Oooh, look, there's Mommy. I can climb on her awhile.
I'm exhausted from all that activity. I think I'll take advantage of this nap time and sneak a snooze while I can. Then I'll go in later and probably see something that looks like this:
Oh, hi Mommy. Is your nap over too? I was just playing quietly. Not causing any trouble at all. Aren't I the sweetest angel?
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Active and well dressed
Olivia's been exceedingly active lately. She scoots, climbs, grabs, throws and speaks in a yell. I think she's just trying to express herself. She also screams silently. I don't know where she gets this, but when she's angry, she screams, and it sounds like she's trying to belt a high note that's too high so nothing comes out but air. Don't get me wrong...we are thankful that she screams like this, because I can't imagine the headaches that would come with the alternative. It's just weird, that's all.
Anyway, yesterday we spent all day running errands and visiting with people. Olivia napped about two hours, total, all day yesterday. Which is a sharp decrease from her usual 4-6 hours of nap that she gets most days. She wasn't all that fussy, either. She just played hard and observed everything. She slept very well last night as a result.
Today is pretty much the opposite. She's in the middle of her third nap and has clocked more than four total hours of nap at this point. She's been exceedingly fussy and impatient with me when she's awake.
I think she may be bored. I think she hates it when we stay home all day. Maybe I'm not stimulating her enough, or maybe she just wants to be somewhere where she can see new things and play with new people.
So how do you do this? I know I could schedule more playdates, but honestly, yesterday was exhausting for me too. I need a recuperation day. I need to do laundry and pick up around here. I need gasoline to not be so expensive because 95% of our friends and family live ten to forty miles away, and that's not conducive to frequent playdate scheduling.
Bleh, I'm finished complaining.
So this morning, when Olivia hadn't yet decided to be upset with me for being so incredibly dull, she and I were putting away some 6-9 month clothing that we just picked up from a friend who is lending all of her little girl clothes to us as Olivia grows into them. As I was putting the 200th adorable little t-shirt onesie in her drawer, it occurred to me that this child has had at her disposal more cute and fashionable clothing choices in her short lifetime than I've had EVER. I am not complaining...I am stating a fact. And it occurred to me that I wanted to share with the internet how amazingly wonderful this baby share thing is.
When we were anticipating Olivia's birth, friends came out of the woodwork to empty their closets and basements and storage areas of all the baby items they no longer needed. My husband commented just yesterday that, besides diapers, we have had to spend VERY little on baby stuff. The list of things we have that we did not have to buy include:
Crib, bedding, changing table, baby tub, assorted toys, carseat (which was only 6 months old), bassinet, pack-n-play, rocking chair, and other assorted items. Also:
LOTS and LOTS OF CLOTHES!!
We currently receive hand-me-downs from three sources...all friends with little girls who are a bit older than Olivia. These are marked and can be passed back when we are finished, thus eliminating our need to store massive amounts of clothing that she has already grown out of.
This is absolutely the best way to clothe your child. I'm serious. I'm all for buying new things to doll up your kid, and Olivia has some of that too, but for the everyday clothing needs, this is brilliant. The kid has no idea she's in someone else's clothing, and since she'll grow out of it faster than she'll wear all of it, there's absolutely no reason that we need to be spending extra money.
So, if you are having a baby, make friends with people who have recently had a baby of the same gender. Trust me, you won't be sorry.
Anyway, yesterday we spent all day running errands and visiting with people. Olivia napped about two hours, total, all day yesterday. Which is a sharp decrease from her usual 4-6 hours of nap that she gets most days. She wasn't all that fussy, either. She just played hard and observed everything. She slept very well last night as a result.
Today is pretty much the opposite. She's in the middle of her third nap and has clocked more than four total hours of nap at this point. She's been exceedingly fussy and impatient with me when she's awake.
I think she may be bored. I think she hates it when we stay home all day. Maybe I'm not stimulating her enough, or maybe she just wants to be somewhere where she can see new things and play with new people.
So how do you do this? I know I could schedule more playdates, but honestly, yesterday was exhausting for me too. I need a recuperation day. I need to do laundry and pick up around here. I need gasoline to not be so expensive because 95% of our friends and family live ten to forty miles away, and that's not conducive to frequent playdate scheduling.
Bleh, I'm finished complaining.
So this morning, when Olivia hadn't yet decided to be upset with me for being so incredibly dull, she and I were putting away some 6-9 month clothing that we just picked up from a friend who is lending all of her little girl clothes to us as Olivia grows into them. As I was putting the 200th adorable little t-shirt onesie in her drawer, it occurred to me that this child has had at her disposal more cute and fashionable clothing choices in her short lifetime than I've had EVER. I am not complaining...I am stating a fact. And it occurred to me that I wanted to share with the internet how amazingly wonderful this baby share thing is.
When we were anticipating Olivia's birth, friends came out of the woodwork to empty their closets and basements and storage areas of all the baby items they no longer needed. My husband commented just yesterday that, besides diapers, we have had to spend VERY little on baby stuff. The list of things we have that we did not have to buy include:
Crib, bedding, changing table, baby tub, assorted toys, carseat (which was only 6 months old), bassinet, pack-n-play, rocking chair, and other assorted items. Also:
LOTS and LOTS OF CLOTHES!!
We currently receive hand-me-downs from three sources...all friends with little girls who are a bit older than Olivia. These are marked and can be passed back when we are finished, thus eliminating our need to store massive amounts of clothing that she has already grown out of.
This is absolutely the best way to clothe your child. I'm serious. I'm all for buying new things to doll up your kid, and Olivia has some of that too, but for the everyday clothing needs, this is brilliant. The kid has no idea she's in someone else's clothing, and since she'll grow out of it faster than she'll wear all of it, there's absolutely no reason that we need to be spending extra money.
So, if you are having a baby, make friends with people who have recently had a baby of the same gender. Trust me, you won't be sorry.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Little Miss Excitable
This weekend was beautiful, and we decided to pack up our little girl and all her things and drive to our beloved former parish in our beloved former city for their annual social.
Now, in our beloved former city, these socials (called Summer Socials, and spread from May to September) are held at just about every parish in the city. These are big fundraisers for the parishes, but we always liked attending because we'd always run into at least a couple dozen people we knew. There are rides and games for the kiddos, and food booths and silent auctions and big wheel tickets for the adults. It's a great way to guiltlessly drop $40 because it's fun and all the money goes to the church.
Olivia was loving it! She just kept looking intently at everything and taking it all in. And, of course, we ran into a couple dozen people we knew, who all just had to see Olivia and talk to her. But her eyes kept darting around at all the lights and the activity.
We were sure that after a couple of hours at the social, she was bound to fall asleep as soon as we hit the car. We visited my in-laws for about an hour after the social, and the entire time Olivia was charged up! She was shouting out excited little exclamations and giggling and stomping. And then we put her on the floor, and by golly if that girl didn't crawl! Not a real crawl, mind you...more like an army crawl.
Now that she's discovered her mobility, she thinks she's big stuff. Between the army crawl and the rolling, she can get herself into just about any kind of trouble accessible within a foot of floor level. Any day now, she'll discover how to pull herself up on things. Then the crib will become a danger and we'll need to lower her mattress. And get foam cushions for the coffee table edges. And move all the knick knacks to high shelves. And either bolt down or throw out the bookcases, because OH THE TEMPTATION of climbing on them.
Not that I'm complaining. She's a lot easier to entertain now, and that's good. In fact, I noticed about 10 minutes ago that she is up from her nap, but since she's in there doing baby acrobatics and entertaining herself with her crib toys, I'm taking advantage. Not something I could have done a few weeks ago...
Our little girl is growing up!
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