February 28, 2010 by jnanevans
Being ill has one advantage–plenty of time to do some thinking while recuperating.
With the sleep deprivation and poor health, I’ve lost focus lately. I’ve tuned out somewhat from being present with my children. I’ve been going through the motions but have lost some of the joy in parenting.
I intend on changing that.
1) Change the time of day that I am on the computer. Usually, one of the first things I do is turn on the computer when I walk in the door–that and start dinner. For a week, I am not going to get on the computer until after the kids go to bed. We have been pushing up the boys’ bedtime because they are just worn out by the end of the day, which means I have less time with them in the evening. I’d rather have two good hours though than two good ones and one horrendous last hour.
FH is a “short sleeper,” sleeping about 4-5 hours at a time. He goes to bed around 7:30, and then I can have some really good quality time focusing on LM for 30-60 minutes. This arrangement has worked out the best of anything else we have tried so far. It’s been kinda interesting since the boys share a room, but the logistics of that are for another post.
2) Read more to FH. We read all the time to LM and somehow have not done as much of this with FH as I would like.
That’s it. I make too many lists in general, so I am keeping this one short and sweet.
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February 26, 2010 by jnanevans
I was working on making a chore chart this week for LM when I came across this one from ModEco Kids. Just download the pdf in Adobe (Preview for Mac doesn’t work as well) and fill in the blanks.
Since LM doesn’t read yet, I added the pictures. I just took photographs of the items, printed them out as a contact sheet, cut them out, and used double-sided tape to adhere them to the printout. I was pretty pleased with the results. I then put the whole thing in a plastic sleeve, so we can use a dry erase pen with it.
There are only three items on the list right now; there are a few other things like picking up toys and taking his plate to the sink that we expect him to do just as part of being part of the family.
For each “extra” task, he gets $0.25. I know there is a lot of discussion about whether to pay your kids or not, how much to pay them, when to pay them, etc. Some people don’t think you should pay children; some people think the payment should just be automatic and not tied to specific tasks.
Right now, we are going to try this approach and see how it goes. Immediately after completing the task, he colored in the circle and got a quarter. He put the quarter in a jar that he has in his room. The jar is for spending, and he has a piggy bank for saving. Eventually, I would like to add a third container for giving, but I just want to take one thing at a time with this.
Tonight was the first night we used the chart, and he was super excited to color in the circles next to the tasks. He was so disappointed that the silverware in the dishwasher was dirty, so it couldn’t be put away.
You wouldn’t think that a four-year-old could run a vacuum, but he wrestles that thing all around his room and actually does quite a good job. A reminder to me not to underestimate him!
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February 25, 2010 by jnanevans
Trying to figure out the best size to upload my photos onto the blog….this is a photograph of the lake at Massanutten.
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February 23, 2010 by jnanevans
With my condition, it is recommended that I limit contact with people who have not had chickenpox or have not been vaccinated. Since W hasn’t had chickenpox before, and neither kid is fully vaccinated, I’ve really limited how much I touch them.
Touch is one of those things that you don’t really pay much attention to until it is gone. We give lots of hugs and kisses to the boys. Not being able to nurse is also really weird.
The photo below is one of my favorite; I took it when LM was just starting to walk. I got it framed for W’s first father’s day.
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February 22, 2010 by jnanevans
Oh yeah, when you don’t get enough rest, your body has a way of making your rest.
I’ve had a sore throat and ear ache for about two weeks; didn’t really think much about it. Got this weird little bump above my eye; thought it was a pimple. Eye started to swell up and get red–no big deal–thought it was pink eye. Headache for about a week–fairly common.
Went to the doctor yesterday after the pain in my head and eye became too much. The diagnosis: herpes zoster (shingles). Crazy. The pain is off the chart. I’m on medication, which has helped a little bit, but I’m going to be out of action for awhile.
Thank, thank you, thank you to my awesome family. W went to the grocery store last night to get milk and a few dinner items and came back with all of my favorite comfort foods. He took the midnight and four o’clock feedings, so I didn’t have to get up. Oh yeah, the medicine I’m taking passes into the breast milk, so I’m pumping and dumping–that sucks. I don’t have enough milk frozen, so FH is going to get his first taste of formula. ugh.
All in all not much fun around here right now.
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February 18, 2010 by jnanevans
We moved FH from the bassinet; he was getting too big for it anyway, and the hope was that he would sleep better in the crib. Seems to be working. Tonight I put him in it, and he went straight to sleep. Not one peep. Last night he slept from 8 p.m. to midnight, ate, and then went back to sleep for four more hours. Definitely a move in the right direction.
Photo Credit: The Commons, Flickr, Photographic Advertising Limited, Collection of National Media Museum
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February 18, 2010 by jnanevans
Several years ago, I was given this cookbook and have enjoyed trying new recipes out of it since. Several of the recipes below are from it.
- Spaghetti
- Tofu with picante sauce served with rice and vegetable
- Ham with sweet potatoes
- Black Bean Tostado
We had this for the first time last night. What makes it is the dressing for the lettuce. Toss the lettuce in a splash of lime juice, sugar, and cumin. Just that little bit of extra makes all the difference.
This is really good. It takes a little while to make but is worth it. You make the polenta first, stuff the red peppers with the polenta, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, and then bake.
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February 16, 2010 by jnanevans
FH is seven months old tomorrow, and he has not slept through the night yet. (Do you hear my cry of agony!)
In fact, he hasn’t even come close–four hours at one time is about the longest he has ever gone.
We’ve tried just about everything–feed him more, feed him less, go to bed earlier/later, change his sleeping environment, nap more/less, let him cry, have him sleep with us…..
Pediatrician did not find anything physically wrong with him.
Parenting is not for the weak.
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February 13, 2010 by jnanevans
Just a quick post….
The main roads are clear around here, but there is still quite a bit of snow up at the house. So, I took advantage of both kids actually having nap time at the same time today (a rarity) to make some small adjustments in the kitchen.
It’s striking how just changing a few things can make a difference.
- I cleaned out the drawer with the pot holders in it next to the stove. Why do I have 20 pot holders??
- With the extra space in that drawer, I moved some of the utensils that were in a container on the countertop into the drawer.
- I put the blender in the pantry since we don’t use it everyday.
- And then shifted the toaster over to where the blender was.
Voila! It feels like I just doubled the size of my countertop.
I also reorganized the pantry to make room for the baby food. Since there really wasn’t a designated space for it, the jars just kinda oozed around and messed the other categories up.
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February 11, 2010 by jnanevans
I have never real been one to make New Year’s resolutions, but I like the idea of setting some goals for the next twelve months.
- Plant a garden
- Pay off student loan (Feb. 2010) YIPPEEEEE!!!!!!
- Build up emergency fund
- Write at least 40 blog posts
- Stop drinking soda on a regular basis (February 2010) I’ve been doing really well on this. Honestly, I don’t even like soda that much–not sure how I got into the habit of drinking it regularly (at work, especially)
- Exercise at least once a week
- Sew the couch cushion cover for the sun room
- Sew sun room curtains
- Finish the photo books for 2007 , 2008, and 2009
- Finish FH’s baby book
- Finish cross stitch for niece
- Paint entryway wall
- Get will made
- Organize the office/files (Feb. 2010) W and I made some progress on this. We got rid of a lot of paper and got a new shelf. Still some more work to do before I can cross this one off though
- Clean out the storage room (Feb. 2010) I rearranged the storage room last night, which is about as good as it is going to get until we are done with the baby clothes.
- Sell college books (Feb. 2010) I didn’t sell the books but gave them away to the local library for its book sale–same effect of getting them out of the house
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