10 Months

     Another Month has passed already. Harmony turned 10 months old on the 29th.  I'm completely slacking and haven't been on here much and once again the Mommy guilt has kicked in, so here goes another post.

Harmony at 10 Months:

• 16lbs 12 oz - up a few ounces since last month.
• 27 " - a whole inch in a month

Harmony at 10 Months Wears:

• Size 2 Diapers
• 3-6 Months, 6 months and a few 6-9 months that tend to fit smaller
• size 1 and 2 shoes - so really no change in what she is wearing this month

Harmony at 10 Months:

• Wave, Clap, play Patty Cake
• Crawl, Cruise, Climb and stand unassisted for a few seconds
• Has 4 teeth finally - 2 front bottom and her top I teeth.  She looks like a baby vampire.
• Pants like a dog
• Fakes coughs complete with covering her mouth for attention
• Shushes people
• Blows raspberries complete with spit flying everywhere
• Copies everyone
• loves kissing Mommy

Harmony at 10 months Eats:

• Pretty much everything but now has tried Cheese and Egg Yolk
• straight formula since weaning
• anything she can feed herself

Harmony at 10 Months says:

• Mama, Dada, Ella, Baba, What's That?
• Signs - All done, Milk

Things I never want to forget:

• You are always Happy and smiling
• You love attention and to entertain
• You are a complete monkey and are into everything all the time
• How much you love your brother and sister
• How much loves cuddling you in the middle of the night, the only time you allow me to cuddle you
• You always brighten my day! Mommy loves you so much!

Frenulum Release

     After begging and pleading with our family doctor we were referred to a doctor for a consult for Frenulum release surgery for Harmony.  She was born tongue tied as well as under her top lip.  Surprise, surprise the specialist thinks it would be best for Harmony to indeed have the surgery.  She is booked to have surgery July 17th. The doctor did not want to perform the surgery before she was one for two reasons.  The first being they don;t like to put infants under anesthetic unless absolutely necessary and secondly she is tiny to begin with so they wanted to give her a chance to grow a bit.

     Many people have asked why they don't just snip it in the office.  Some doctors still will but good doctors won't.  The risks of the in office procedure outweigh the risks of surgery in my honest opinion.  The chance of snipping the salivary glands is more likely and the scar tissue is worse as you can't be as accurate when the child is awake which results in more mistakes.

     The whole procedure takes 30 minutes or less under anesthetic and is a day surgery.  She will be in and out of the hospital fairly quickly and back home resting before she has a chance to miss it. I'm a little nervous but the benefits for Harmony in the long run as far as speech goes will make it worth while. It looks like its going to be an interesting summer around here.  Stay tuned for more summer plans including our wedding plans update.

The wild ride of Life

     I've been a little non existent this week. Sorry, I guess life sort of got in the way. It's been a roller coaster around here as of late.  This past week has really thrown us for a loop.  We've had summer weather in March, good news, bad news and the remnants of tonsillitis and teething. 

     The weather has been so amazing.  We took every chance we had to get outside and enjoy it.  We went on several long walks which even resulted in a sunburn for me.  A sunburn in march that didn't involve a vacation.  I just can't wrap my head around that.  Once again, I am not complaining just a little confused by mother nature. Needless to say we thoroughly enjoyed the lovely weather and we hope it continues to stick around.

     The kids finally seem to be on the mend after 3 weeks of antibiotics x 3 for Tonsillitis.  All that seems to be lingering is fatigue and snotty noses but those I can handle.  I am so over fevers, sore throats and cranky kids. Harmony has popped 3 teeth in the last couple of weeks too, which definitely accounts for some of the crankiness - hers and mine. 

    We have also decided to put the wedding plans on hold. I want to clarify, not cancelled we are still very much in love and will be very much getting married before the summer is over God willing.  We will just be putting the plans on hold for a wee bit while we direct our energy into our family at this time.  Not to mention in the next 3 weeks we have Easter as well as 2 Birthdays which happen to fall within the same week this year.  Talk about busy!

   So please forgive for not posting more this week and I will try to do better next week but no guarantees.  Harmony has suddenly become a very active little monkey.

      

Swinter!

I love Summer, I mean Spring, oh actually its still Winter but we are enjoying summer like temperatures and I am OK with this. 

     Despite the kids being sick, we spent much of the weekend outside.  Mike enjoyed his first sunburn of...summer/winter the year because who thinks about sunscreen in March, at least not where we live.  I even managed a bit of tan.  I had to go digging through the kids clothes for summer clothes which is just craziness. The good kind of craziness but craziness none the less.  All the outdoor toys were scattered on the lawn and the smell of people barbecuing was everywhere.  Pure Heaven I tell you. It was so invigorating to be sitting on the deck sipping a cold beer, listening to music while the little ones played. It made me realize how thankful I am that we moved and how thankful I am to have my wonderful back yard.

     I can't wait for the kids to be healthy so we can get outside and enjoy all this beautiful weather.

Musical Beds

      We started last night off great with everyone in their own beds and about 20 minutes later the game began. The game is musical beds. Unlike musical chairs there is no prize to be won except a full nights sleep but that's just a distant memory from over 3 years ago. There is no musical to scramble to unless you count screams from night terrors.  Thankfully these nights are not the norm around here anymore but they once were and they reared their ugly head last night.  The night went something like this:

• Everyone in their own beds
• Mike downstairs in bed with Camden
• Mike back in our bed
• Mike in Camden's bed
• Mike in our bed
• Mike and Camden in our bed with me
• Harmony and I on her floor
• Harmony on her floor and Mommy back in bed with the boys
• Harmony back in her crib and mommy back in bed with the boys
• Mike on the couch, Camden and mommy in my bed
• Mommy in between Harmony and Camden mushed in my own bed while Mike gets a glorious nights rest on the couch.

There you have it.  That's what my night looked like, jealous aren't you? One day my children will sleep and that day will prprobably be when they are teenagers.  I am going to insist on crawling into their bed in the middle of  the night, waking them at ridiculous hours and making infinite requests for glasses of water.  They will most likely declare me insane and have me committed.  Funny how we put up with it from them because they are cute and sweet and ours!

Update

    So this week has been a little hit and miss.  I apologize but its been a crazy week. 

     In the past 2 weeks, 3 out of 3 kids have been on antibiotics.  Camden still isn't 100% after his run in with tonsillitis. I forgot what a miserable sick person he is.  Ella gets a bit whiny and lays around.  Camden gets mad and pretty much screams the entire duration of his illness. They both had tonsillitis and yet how they handle it is completely different.  I feel bad for his future wife. The man cold will be the worst case anyone has ever seen.  Seriously forget the man cold anyway, this kid has the boy cold down and its far worse than any man cold I have seen. Seriously there is nothing worse than when Camden gets sick.

    Mike also received his final divorce papers in the mail.  As of April 2nd its official. I'm a little bit excited.  We now have a wedding to plan. Next week as long as everything goes to plan we will be booking a venue and start planning. 

That's what we have been up to this week,as well as cleaning, airing out, and disinfecting everything.  Its been a bit crazy and not much sleep either.   Hard to sleep through the non stop screaming at night.  Thankfully Gampa Gampa loves Camden enough to take him home and deal with his non stop screaming.  Don't get me wrong, I love him more than enough but everyone needs a break to sleep and clean.

Getting into shape?

     With our wedding roughly 5 months away, its time to get into shape and a slightly less round one at that.  At 9 months post baby my tummy still jiggles and my bum still wiggles and well its not cute.  That means 5 months to fit into the wedding dress I've already purchased. 

    Last night after minimal convincing I joined a friend at Aqua Boot Camp. It sounds much scarier than it actually was. It was so nice to get out for an hour with adults and exercise in the pool.  Exercise doesn't seem so bad when its in the pool.  Its borderline fun and you can carrying on a conversation when you aren't drowning yourself doing ab crunches in the water.  I can definitely feel it today but not nearly as bad as I thought.

     Today is supposed to be gorgeous out. Spring has most certainly sprung and its expected to reach 17 degrees Celsius today.  Pure heaven for March.  I think a nice long walk later will keep my fitness goals on track later and its always nice for the munchkins to get out and enjoy the fresh air.

     So here is to nice weather and getting my butt into gear for our upcoming nuptials. I must be excited! I'm willing to exercise.

Baby Food Extravaganza

     We are getting low on my freezer stock pile of baby food.  Even though Harmony is 9 months old and loves to feed herself finger foods, I still feed her home made baby food.  Only 1 out of 3 bites she tries to shove into her own mouth makes it there so it my attempt to fatten her up a bit, I feed spoon feed her as well.

     On today's menu is :

• Sweet Potato
• Apple Sauce
• Pears
• Peas
• Avocado
• Maybe some chicken if I get to it

     Making your own baby food is such a money saver and I like to know whats in my baby's food.  Jarred baby food smells and looks disgusting.  Home made stuff tastes and smells like real food. Even my older kids beg for some.  Camden will chow down pureed chicken, Ella loves pureed carrots and who doesn't love home made applesauce. I will even throw a frozen cube of carrot or another veggie into our pasta sauces or meat loaf  as a way to get extra veggies into everyone.  I really wish I had not been such a first time mom with Ella and bought everything just because it had a cute smiling baby on the package.  I lived and learned and actually enjoy preparing the little ones food.

Thankful Thursday - In laws edition

       Today I am thankful for my in laws.
They are the kindest, sweetest and most helpful people ever. Many people do not get along with theirs and I am so thankful that I definitely don't have that problem.  They are always there to help save the day. I love them and am glad to have them in our lives and our childrens. My kids couldnt ask for better grandparents.

Wordless Wednesday - My Wee Three

Guilty Pleasures

     A mommy friend recently posted her guilty pleasures and it got me thinking about my list.  You can read hers over at The Tompkins Family.

Here is mine:

• A Tea or Coffee from Tim Hortons, especially now that Roll Up The Rim is back
• Cuddling my kids in the middle of the night. I really wish they would sleep but knowing they still need me to cuddle them and protect them from bad dreams is a good mommy feeling to have.
• A Good Book
• Mustard, I know its weird but I really do love mustard.
• Word games on my Ipod - Words with Friends, Scramble, Crosswords etc.
• Falling asleep cuddling the man I love

What are you Guilty Pleasures?

Week in Review

     I somehow missed some fun stuff on here this week.  OK, definitely not so much fun and probably only interesting to me and well that is probably it but I am going to share it anyway.

• Harmony now waves and actually says bye, all the time but imagine "bye" with a southern drawl and you have it.  She also claps and  and cheers yeah, all the time. She does them all the time and on demand like a performing monkey. Its great and I love it! CUTEST THING EVER!

• We filed Mike's divorce papers.  The last set that finally set him free. In about 2 months he will be baggage free. This Someecard is for you my dear.

Actually the divorce process has been pretty easy, the only crap part is well paying all of it...some people and the lack of responsibility I tell ya...oh well, the divorce has been easy and fun.

• The weather has been so confusing. A thunderstorm, a beautiful spring like day and now severe wind warnings, freezing rain, regular rain...I can't keep it all straight, bring on spring!

• Anyone looking for a nice old dog? OK, we aren't really getting rid of Tanner but I think the poor girl is deaf or possibly she just has started ignoring me more (could totally be the case the kids and Mike do it, I even had Camden's hearing checked).  She is also going senile and I let her in every 5 minutes and then out again.  She seriously forgets she just came in or out or whatever...in and out, all day long, every 5 minutes is annoying. I also think she is pretty depressed since we moved.  She probably needs puppy happy pills.  I told Mike if anyone in the house is going to be drugged up to get through the day its not going to be the dog.  

     Well I am off to clean the house and care for the munchkins while I wait for Mike to bring me a Timmies! He honestly is the worlds best guy, husband to be, father, everything, really he is. I am so thankful for his divorce.  Time to turn up the music, clean and pretend it counts as real exercise.

     What I'm listening to or rather we're listening to this morning:



Rants from a Wednesday night

     Let's start off with I love my kids dearly, fiercely, I love them with all I've got but sometimes just sometimes I don't know what to do with them...Do you think I could sell them to the zoo? They act like animals so I think it may work out.  Harmony did manage to sneak a piece of dog food and growled at me when I fished it out of her mouth. See the zoo may be very interested. 

     Mike is working afternoons this week again.  It is the absolute worst.  He is gone from the house all afternoon and evening. Its brutal and makes everything a hundred times worse. 

    We also experienced a Winter thunderstorm, yeah, seriously what's that about? I hate thunderstorms anyway mainly because they freak me out but only big ones, so we were OK last night I didn't panic.  The dog did though.  I think she needs drugs or maybe I do because she gets all hysterical and whiny and I had to lock her in the garage.  She woke up the baby oh about 15 times. It made me stabby but I kept my composure and didn't lose it.

     Then there is Camden who at 11pm was still up chatting in his bed. Why won't he sleep? He is obviously tired.  He drank his milk and we read 6 books and he is still up.  Argh, I give up.

So here is a little rant (yes, I know you thought that was my rant right? WRONG!)
Dear Family:

Mike, I hate afternoon shift. I know its your work and its necessary but I hate it none the less and it makes me a grumpy b!tch  less nice person.  I know you can;t fix it but just know I will likely be grumpy for half the month, every month and that's not including PMS...Rethinking our upcoming wedding now huh?

Camden go the *bleep* to sleep now...its 11 pm...as much as I love you I do not find you cute or charming tonight and your voice chattering incessantly with intermittent screams is bordering obnoxious and makes mommy want to drink hard liquor (and I don't ever drink liquor).

Harmony I understand you are obsessed with crawling everywhere but stop trying to crawl in your crib while you are half asleep. You get frustrated and so do I. Lets save the crawling for when you are awake on the floor.

Tanner, I get that you are old and slightly deaf and terrified of the storm but if you wake up the baby one more time you will have to find a new home.

Ella, you are lucky to be spending the night at Daddy's!

I really do love you all and in the morning after a nights sleep I will love you that much more.  After all, things always look brighter in the morning...Probably because the sun is shining but none the less brighter. There, that is all...I feel better already.