Summer, Summer, Summertime

Whew, what a semester! I find it horrifying that I haven't had time to write and edit a post since spring break. After the last eight weeks of my life however, I shouldn't be surprised. With Louis going through an awful sleep regression, me being sick and then sick again and finally one last bout of sickness, a campus in chaos, and the every day that is our life, I haven't had much time for the extras lately. 


I spent the first weekend after classes wrapped up moving Jo into our spare bedroom and celebrating Dylan's graduation from UNI. Mom came down for a few days to help and it was fun having her here. Louis received some coveted alone time with Grandma and I had some help with meals and childcare for a much needed reprieve. I wish the rest of the family could have been here, but if we only got together when all eleven of us were free we'd never see each other. After playing too hard, I spent Sunday locked in my bedroom grading my last round of final exams. I had hopes of being done with my grading last Wednesday but a sore throat and loss of voice sidelined my plans. Being done on May 6th for the summer is still pretty amazing though, so I'm not complaining!


Today was my first "official" day of summer and Louis and I filled it pretty well. Last night I cornered Joanna and Nevin in front of Once Upon a Time and we created a meal plan for the week. One of the entries on my summer bucket list is good food! This plan is twofold. First, Louis is used to eating healthy, well-balanced meals at daycare and I don't want to get out of that habit. Second, I love experimenting with good meals with my family, the school year is just usually a hard time to do too much of that. I have been following a bunch of food blogs in my Google Reader and bookmarking ideas for months. This week I really focused in on the basis of a plan on Super Healthy Kids. I'm really excited about the plan and one day in, we're right on track!

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Breakfast	Oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon	Bran muffin with banana	Omelet and toast	Smoothies and toast	Egg sandwiches with strawberries
Lunch	Pizza Pitas and grapes	Leftover Lasagna	Leftover chicken, bacon, ranch wrap (FM 78)	Quesadilla	Strawberry Spinach Salad
Snack	Crackers and string cheese	Apples and Peanut Butter	Veggies With Hummus	Crackers with String Cheese	Bananas and Pretzels
Dinner	Vegetable Lasagna (CL)	Chicken Stir Fry (SIS 65)	Lemon Asparagus Pasta (SIS 57)	Sausage Asparagus Skillet (SIS 56)

I always struggle with finding a delicate balance in the summer between going with the flow and getting things accomplished. I am starting my summer with a cleaning task and a laundry task for each day of the week, but the rest of the time I can fill with whatever Louis and I see fit. 

	Clean	Laundry
Monday	groceries clean refrigerator	Lou’s
Tuesday	bathrooms	towels
Wednesday	store clean kitchen	darks
Thursday	dust	whites
Friday	vacuum	rugs
Saturday/Sunday	farmer’s market meal plan	sheets

I also will benefit from Aunt Jo doing about 10 hours of babysitting per week. I offered her room and board if I can get into the office and get some work done this summer. Lou will enjoy the fun times with Jo and I'll have some child free hours to regain my sanity.

With the first day under my belt, I can say I'm very excited for my summer ahead. Next up I want to finish that summer bucket list I mentioned above. I hate when the months get away from me and I didn't get to seventy-five percent of what I wanted to accomplish!

Spring break

Spring break is always a hard week for me. The weather is starting to get nice and I want to spend my time preparing for the impending summer. I want to clean out my flower beds, wash my windows, and organize my neglected closets and cupboards. I want to spend my time dreaming about the small vegetable garden I want to start this year and get out the patio furniture and grill. I usually spend my spring break grading midterms and lesson planning and reading for the remainder of the semester though. Sadly, this break been filled with neither of these. No spring cleaning but also no grading. Louis has had a 102 degree temperature for two days and he wants nothing but to be held and read to. He isn't eating much and getting him to hydrate is quite the circus act. Poor thing. While I hate that the sickness is commandeering our break, I'm glad I'm able to be home to snuggle him this week.

To make up for my lackluster break, tonight I decided to bust out a couple of the new recipes I've been excited about since my cleanse ended. I have been wanting to bring more home cooking back into our house and this is a good start. I broke out a couple of the homemade granola and Lara bar recipes (Girl-Scout Cookie Larabars, Oatmeal-Raisin Cookie Larabars, Copycat Nature Valley Granola Bars) from Chocolate Covered Katie. I haven't tried them yet, but they're sitting in my fridge waiting for me to need a snack. I'll report back once they have all been tried.

Also, in a last minute decision, I decided to whip up Iowa Girl Eats' Shepard's Pie with Helathified Mashed Potatoes. It's not the leftover pizza we were supposed to eat for dinner, but I'm much more excited about it! The timer just beeped, bring it on!

Discipline

At 16 months old, Louis is starting to push our limits. There was a short window of time when he began to understand us and then was excited to follow any directions. He is now a big fan of "no" and running away from us when we are trying to get his attention.When he gets really frustrated, he has started throwing a mini temper tantrum that ends with his butt up in the air and his forehead on the floor like a tepee. It would be adorable if it wasn't paired with an awful screaming.

This week an angry father's YouTube video disciplining his daughter went viral. People have commented on the video in a variety of ways. Some liken him to a parenting hero while others accuse him of child abuse. It is clear to me that his daughter is a frustrated and spoiled fifteen year old who is using strong language in order to ridicule her parents. But it is also clear to me, that in his disciplining, this father is frustrated and spoiled and he is using strong language in order to ridicule his daughter. I understand his frustration, but he is doing exactly what I try to resist when I want to form my own tepee next to my son. Discipline would be a lot easier if we didn't have to worry about reinforcing the very behaviors we are trying to change.

Last night I left Louis to his tepee and walked into the other room. He eventually stopped throwing a fit in order to find me and we grabbed a book and moved on. While the fits will become more difficult and loaded as the years go on, I hope that I continue to respect my child as a person and remember to model the behavior I expect from him.

Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car

Louis hates the car. This is not a new thing. It has been going on since he was 36 hours old and we bundled him into his car seat for the first time. He started screaming that bloodcurdling shriek every parent knows and fears. Nevin and I walked out of the hospital engulfed in panic as all eyes were on us. We had been parents for less than two days and our child was already embarrassing us.

Screaming as we put him into the car seat.

Lou is now almost 16 months old and other than a brief fascination with Christmas with the Chipmunks, nothing has kept him from screaming in his car seat since that first ride a year and a half ago. I have reached my breaking point. Getting him out the door to daycare every morning is tough enough, but when I get anywhere near putting him in the PT he tightens his legs into a plank position and lets out a guttural howl. I don't know if it is more a showcases of his strength or my weakness but after the howling starts, he wedges his giant melon against the top of the car seat and his legs against the back seat and I CANNOT get him into a seated position. At this point (every day, mind you) I have two options, 1) physically force my child to do something he does not want to do...something I am against on all levels or 2) wait it out and hope my eardrums survive and we aren't too late for our day. The only solution I have come up with is something with which I'm not entirely comfortable. Do we go against the new(ish) APA standards, and turn his car seat around a full eight months before he is two?

Still screaming one year later.

I was considering taking the leap a couple of months ago. I had never been in a car accident, we didn't exactly have a child on the small side of the spectrum, and I recognized that being a parent was constantly trying to make your own decisions in the midst of multiple, contradictory "well meaning" recommendations. The day after Nevin and I decided we would make the switch that following weekend, I pulled out in front of a car and ended up in a collision with another person. Now we were back to worrying about the safety of it all. It goes without saying, I would rather listen to him screaming than the alternative.


Am I being ridiculous? Will turning him around even stop the screaming? Am I going to be driving my screaming, fifteen-year-old, six foot tall son to basketball practice or jazz band rehearsal?

My year in review

Teething...

SUCKS!!! Poor baby is cranky and in pain and his parents are exhausted and running short on patience.


This too shall pass.


Right?

Working, working, working

Without the task of writing every day about the things for which I'm thankful, I haven't been writing much. (Knocking on wood) things seem to have stopped being one giant cluster after another, and so now I'm back to the every day grind of task completion. Next week is final's week at school and so I was hoping to get caught up with all things school-oriented before I left campus on Friday. Not quite, but I am much closer than I have been some semesters. Next week I'll grade final exams and submit grades, while hopefully starting on notes and planning for next semester.


At home, I'm trying to instill as much holiday cheer into our lives before it's all over for 2011. 

Decorated the house. 

Gone to visit Santa at Heritage Farm in Hudson. 

Attended the UNI Men's Glee Club Christmas concert. 

Celebrated St. Nicholas Day (complete with oranges in our shoes). 

Attended an ugly sweater party. 

Celebrated Freking Christmas with with Jo and Dylan. 

Started work on the Biennial Freking Family Christmas Program.

Listened to enough Christmas music that Nevin has threatened (under his breath) to move out.

Sipped on coffees with egg nog.

Baked.

Drank hot chocolate.

Hung out with Kevin, Scott, Hermey, Buddy, Bob, Phil (WHY ARE THESE ALL MEN?).

Also hung out with Judy, Betty, Clarice, Susan, Sybil.

Started, emphasis on STARTed,  gift buying. Although, my list is nearly complete.

I love this time of year. It's the time to search out the best in people and every situation. It's the time to give of oneself. It's a magical time of wishes and hopes and dreams. I hope Nevin and I can create special traditions and instill the real feelings of the season into Louis'childhood.


Now if I could only will it to snow...

Days of Thanksgiving: Nineteen

19. I am thankful for the Hallmark Movie channel and DVR. Louis decided after sleeping for three hours last night that he was wide awake. None of my usual tricks worked. Stories-nothing. Snack-nothing. Rocking-nothing. Nursing-nothing. Singing-nothing. After fighting with him for an hour, I finally gave in and came downstairs to play and watch a movie. He finally gave in to the sleepies about 1:00AM, but while we played blocks I also got a cheesy movie fix!


One day he won't need me to keep him company late at night when he isn't tired. One day he won't let me rock him. One day he won't want to spend his Thanksgiving break nights with his mama. One day he won't sit in the same room as me while I watch Eve's Christmas.

Days of Thanksgiving: Seventeen

17. I am thankful for bath time. Because I'm still nursing at night, Nevin usually does bath time. It gives us both a little bit of  alone time after a long day at work. Sometimes, Nevin just needs a break and I just need a little more time with the boy. Bath time always cheers me up. Louis is goofy and happy in the tub and it's ten minutes of uninterrupted time with just the two of us. We read the same three books over and over and help Captain B catch his fish. He laughs and splashes and I cannot multitask. Bath time is good for the soul!

Days of Thanksgiving: Twelve

12. I am thankful for Baby Tylenol and Orajel. Poor baby boy is struggling to get at least two new teeth if not more. I held him while he cried and patted at his mouth for over an hour in the middle of last night. Today his spirits are up and I'm hoping those buggers break through his gums soon.

Days of Thanksgiving: Nine

9. I am thankful for snow. Yes, I am one of those. I love the icy, white gift from the sky. I don't particularly like driving in it, but since my commute is down to less than ten minutes from the just over an hour one, that doesn't even hold me back as much. 


In my thankfulness for snow, I am able to see so many other things for which I am thankful. I am thankful for the money to be able to clothe my son in weather appropriate items. The poor bundle was swept away to daycare today in a hat, winter coat and mittens with boots and snow pants on the side. I think if they wrap him up in all of that gear, he'll melt and won't be able to move!


I am thankful for my garage. Not having to scrape my windows makes the snow that much prettier.


I am thankful for my husband. While we didn't have enough snow to warrant it this time, I know that he will take care of scooping the snow this winter. He's a pretty cool dude.


I am thankful for the never ending hot tea supply I have built up. Since my "I am thankful for coffee post", I have tried to cut back. I've been so tired lately I'm wondering if it's an overabundance of caffeine that my body is now immune to. I am sleeping. I am not pregnant. I am no more stressed out than any working mom. There is no explanation for this tiredness!


I am thankful for the (new-ish) parking ramp on campus. While it's still a small trek to my office, it is nothing compared to walking from the back of the Gilchrist parking lot like I did in the past. 


I am thankful for reliable vehicles a reliable vehicle to get me and my family around.

Days of Thanksgiving: Two

2. I am thankful for Louis' daycare. While the first month was hard on all of us, our Child Development Center has been a godsend. I know my child is safe, loved and celebrated every day, even during the hours I cannot be with him. The wonderful teachers as his school are helping him accomplish things that aren't even on my radar. At one, he has already helped make applesauce, recognizes nursery rhymes, and helps clean up after himself. Every month that the bill comes out of my paycheck, I can say it's one purchase that is worth every penny. If anything, the check barely touches the value of the goods we receive from it.


I know for a whole host of  reasons not all parents can say this about their child's caregivers. We need to become a culture that supports parents, not one that thinks of children as an other but instead one that welcomes them into our social spaces. When our children need to grace private spaces so their parents can occupy an adult only world, these private spaces need to be given the resources and respect they deserve for the important work that they do.

Mmm...mmm...growing up...

One Year Old

One Year Ago

I can't believe we celebrated Louis' first birthday this month. If it continues to go this quickly he'll be moving out in what feels like a few weeks. The day to day of being a mom can be quite a lot to handle but this "being mindful" mindset helps. When I'm overwhelmed by the toy clutter or the whining of a teething boy, I've been working on taking a breath and looking at the larger picture. I'm so blessed. 




Other than celebrating with our family, we've been working on using our time more effectively around here. We like being successful at work, raising a happy child, having a clean house, creating healthy meals, finding time to relax, and cultivating relationships outside of our trio. There aren't enough hours in the day or days in the week for everything though. I've always been an all or nothing type and it's hard for me to do something halfway; I'd rather not do it at all! I'm trying to work on that mindset. Life can't be all or nothing or most of us would digress into nothingness. While I may strive to be perfect, it is an unattainable goal. Doing the best I can most of the time and getting by the rest has to be good enough. 


One of the places I struggle most with this is with grocery shopping and meal planning. This part of my life often falls into my overwhelmed so nothing category. I like the physical act of walking through a grocery store. The possibilities are endless and it's exciting to try new dishes or combinations. The place I falter is in the list writing and meal planning. I have a hard time imagining and planning for what I want to eat next Wednesday. I find great comfort in food and I want every meal I eat to be great. I hate mediocre food but I don't have the time to invent and cook grand cuisine three times a day every day. Also, Louis really needs healthy balanced meals three to six times a day. He is not a big eater and prefers little snacks continuously throughout the day, but this is hard. I don't want to throw crackers at him every two hours but preparing a healthy unprocessed concoction that many times a day is hard.


I'm finding help with this in food magazines and online food blogs. There are many out there that have done this before me and so I'm stealing their hard work to jump start me. Here goes nothing!

30. Take a swim class with Lou.