There is no learning curve....

I saw this article off CNN today called "8 Things No One Tells You About Being a Mom" that I think any mom would really identify with. At first I was skeptical that I would get much out of reading any parenting article off CNN of all places, but the author's first point really caught my attention: There is no learning curve.

She goes on to say:

"Rather, if you graphed it, it would just go up and up. By the time you master colic, it's over. All your smug expertise at changing diapers on an upright toddler becomes obsolete when she graduates to big-kid underwear. Net result: You never feel quite on top of things.

And although the firstborn breaks you in for the next, Number Two is usually so different in temperament, taste, or developmental pacing that what you learned the first time often doesn't work or apply. My oldest, Henry, would respond only to the loudest of shouts and severest of threats. But when I tried my hard-learned disciplinary tactics on next-in-line Eleanor, the slightest raised voice would make her quiver and tear up."

Boy is that the truth! It seems like you get a small window of time once you master breastfeeding to enjoy feeling like you actually know what you're doing before it's time to move on to rice cereal and solid foods, and then it's on to table food, etc etc. And I suppose I'm about to learn about baby number #2 being different than the first here in about 4 months or so!

The one great thing though about at least mastering something with your child, even if it's only for a short time, is that you can still pass those helpful hints on to other moms as their kids hit similar stages. I don't know what I'd do without my MOPS group, bible study group, playdates, this blog, and anything else where I've gotten to know other young moms! I've been encouraged and learned a lot of helpful hints from everyone else who has been in my shoes, and it's nice to feel like you can help someone else in return.

And on a completely different topic (which I am allowed to do without explanation given my pregnant state)...I am so happy to have discovered a wonderful Thai restaurant in the Woodlands called Ploy Thai Cuisine. If you like Thai, try it out...Yum....

Where has the time gone?

Boy this pregnancy has flown by...almost half way done! I was looking at a calendar yesterday as I was leaving my doctor's office and realized we're almost into July already. Suddenly November doesn't seem that far off!

It did make me start thinking about all the things left to do, and then I had a sudden moment of slight panic realizing I need to decide sometime soon whether I should go through the childbirth classes again with this baby so I can get signed up in time. What did you second time moms out there do?

We went through the classes with Jack, and even though I did go the epidural route with him, I still felt some comfort knowing that I had learned the breathing techniques in case an epidural had not been an option. Well, needless to say I'm a little rusty on them now...should I go through the classes again? I suppose I could dig out those old notes and look through them, but I think I'd break down laughing if I tried to "practice" by myself at home :)

Vickie's Voodoo worked!

I mentioned in my last post that a friend of mine tried a trick with my wrist that will supposedly tell you the sex of your child(ren). Well, after finding out this morning that we're having a girl for baby numero dos, I must say that "Vickie's Voodoo Trick" (surprisingly named by Vickie herself) seems to have some merit to it...at least in my case! I guess that still makes it very anecdotal, as with all the tricks to determine baby gender, but fun to try!

Anyway, the more this news has sunk in, the more excited I've become about it. For a long time I didn't have strong feelings either way about whether I wanted a girl or boy, but when I really started to think about it, I was quickly going to be outnumbered by three Looney men if this baby ended up as a boy. I already struggle enough now to get to see anything on television that ISN'T sports related between the hours of 5pm and 11pm, so it was really going to be tough once Jack and a little brother started vying for control as well. Phew, at least there is still hope for HGTV and occasional Weather Channel viewing (though I refuse to watch Abrams and Bettes...a subject for another post).

I was amazed at how many pictures the ultrasound tech took this morning. With Jack, we were in and out in about 10-15 minutes, but this one took about 30 minutes. Of course the only not so pleasant thing about an ultrasound is having to drink a bunch of water an hour before hand. The woman scheduling the appointment told me 32 ounces....HA! I maybe drank half that amount and was miserable. That's about as near to cruel and unusual punishment for a pregnant woman as you can get! Anyway, the baby looked great and we even got to see her with her hand up to her mouth, perhaps starting that thumb-sucking habit early on! She was very busy in there as well, which I think means my limit of calm children has been hit with Jack :)

My favorite response to this news was from a friend of ours in Austin who wrote Bob and I some notes now that he has a little daughter of his own:

"Note to Bob: That little girl will have you wrapped around her finger before you know it. Believe me...I know.

Note to Kate: When Bob says, "There is no need to buy yet another outfit for her," he is doing so because he doesn't understand that once she wears something once it can never be worn again due to the acidic qualities of female baby skin. At least that is what Erin tells me..."

I knew a clothing fund was a good idea to start now.....I wonder if Bob would believe me if I told him my skin never stopped being "acidic" as an excuse to shop for clothes?

Let the baby gymnastics begin...

I was just sitting here at the computer finishing up some work and realized my lower abdomen was twitching an awful lot this afternoon...guess baby Looney number two is getting big enough to make those internal gymnastic sessions every baby engages in known now! How exciting!

I first started noticing those light sensations about a week ago, which was right about when I first noticed them with Jack (14 weeks) as well, though I would classify Jack's movement as feeling more like little flutters than this baby's. Either way though, it's always reassuring to begin to feel movement, especially now that the belly has popped out! I'm not sure how everyone else progressed in their tummy poppage, but mine sure seemed to go from just a thickening to noticeable little bump in just a few days. With Jack it seemed to be a steadier progression, but the details are a little fuzzy now!

Many people have asked the standard "Do you want a boy or a girl" question and I really never had a good answer with this baby like I did with Jack. With him I just really wanted a boy first, and that worked out great for us! I often joke that I've been hesitant to have a girl knowing what many little girls turn into during the teenage years (having gone through it myself), but after attending a few baby showers of friends having girls this go around, I'm kind of leaning that way! Besides, they get all the cute clothes right? Of course though a boy would be fabulous too.

I'm not much into all the old wives tales about how to tell the sex of the baby, but a friend of mine did show me this unusual trick the other day: She turned my left hand over so the palm was facing up and pressed on the lower part of my hand towards my arm to see if a little bump appeared on my wrist (I guess from a little extra skin there?). Sure enough it did (actually two small bumps appeared), so she tried the other wrist (my right hand) and a bump popped up there too. Apparently the left hand is the "girl" hand and if a bump (or more) pops up, that means one or more of your children will be a girl, and the right hand is the "boy" hand, and if one or more bumps pop there, one of more of your children will be a boy. Well, I've got one boy with Jack so that covers the right hand, so the two bumps on my left hand apparently mean that a girl (or two?) is/are next in line depending on how many kids we end up having. I'm sticking with two for now!

Less than two weeks until the next ultrasound to determine baby gender, whohoo!

The Hazards of Carseats

I have officially discovered how to make myself feel like a horrible mother in about 3 seconds...pinch my son's leg in his carseat buckle :(

I've always been pretty cautions about buckling him in the carseat for that very reason (or burning him with the hot metal piece during the summer), but somehow it just managed to happen a few days ago before I left with my mom for Target. The poor little guy got the most surprised look on his face, which quickly turned to into one of those my-mouth-is-open-wide-but-nothing-is-coming-out things...you know, the kind where your child is so upset nothing comes out at first, but when it does, plug your ears!

Not that I blame him at all. Even a little pinch of skin can hurt pretty good, especially for a little kid. It's one thing when your child is sick or hurt and there's nothing you can do about it, but it's another thing when you're the one that caused the pain! Boy did I feel rotten that morning!

The beauty of young children though is that they still have very short memories, and soon enough he forgot all about the accident and returned to his sweet self. I on the other hand required a little more time :)

Sleeping arrangements

Ok, I need some more advice from you moms of multiples out there...Jack will be right around 23 months when baby number #2 comes along in November, and I'm trying to decide what to do about sleeping arrangements for him and the baby since I've heard I don't want to try and transition him to a bed with a young baby at the same time.

We bought Jack one of the convertible cribs, and so far he's still happily sleeping away in it. I think the answer would be more obvious to me if he was scaling the crib walls every night, but he's quite content to sleep in it right now. I'm hesitant to switch him to a bed too early, because a lot of moms have mentioned that naps tend to dwindle once a child can get in and out of bed him or herself. I love nap time!

Right now I'm leaning towards keeping him in the crib and worrying about the transition after the baby comes, unless he shows signs of being ready for a different bed here in the next few months. I suppose we could buy another convertible crib for baby number #2, that way I don't have to worry about moving Jack out of his too soon. The one we have now has held up really well and was a pretty good deal, so money wise it's an option if we could find a similarly priced crib.

When did you transition your child to a toddler or twin bed? Any tips on how to do it?

Thanks!

Happy Mother's Day!

I sure had a nice Mother's Day yesterday and hope all you other moms did as well!

It started off with a handmade card from Jack (with dad's help of course) and some yummy Taco Cabana breakfast tacos before church, whohoo!

We then had a nice lunch after church and came home to relax for a while before my sister and her family, along with my mom, dad, and grandmother, came over to grill out and play in the pool yesterday afternoon. It was a great day, here are a few more pictures....

Jack sporting his new swim trunks.

Jack and his cousin Lexi

The whole gang!

Mom and the grandsons