[ Posted by Maggie Wed, 13 Jun 2007 19:19:51 GMT ]
As a follow up to my previous post, Hannah hasn’t showed much of an interest since that day. She did ask to go again that night, but that was it. I have Dora panties hanging up in her bathroom and will periodically ask if she wants to wear them, her answer is generally “no”. Oh well, I’ll still encourage her if she wants to go, but like I said I’m not pushing it until we come back in August.
[ Posted by Maggie Mon, 11 Jun 2007 17:56:52 GMT ]
Hannah told me today that she needed to go potty! I haven’t asked her for quite some time, probably a few weeks. So I asked her if she wanted to be changed or go potty and she went to the bathroom. Her diaper was dry and she went potty all on her own! Maybe she’ll do this on her own. I’m still not ready to be aggressive about it, but if she does it on her own I certainly won’t complain. I’ll start carrying her fold up potty seat with us, just in case she wants to go when we’re out and I’ll be sure to have jelly beans ready too, but other than that, we’ll see what she does and then when we get back from our trip in August I’ll try and focus more on it.
[ Posted by Maggie Fri, 08 Jun 2007 15:42:42 GMT ]
Here’s a topic that most of us don’t like dealing with, our finances. Well we have some things going on right now that are requiring us to take a deeper look at our finances. Our first step in our current situation was realizing that we needed help.
John has some co workers that have a financial adviser that they recommend so we made an appointment. We were relieved to know that this wouldn’t cost us more money! He waives his right to charge a fee and asks for referrals instead. (If anyone is interested I’d be more than happy to pass his info on.) We enjoyed talking to him and were pleased with his finance philosophy. He said that he wouldn’t put us in any situation that he wouldn’t put his own family in in our circumstance, and he has 3 little ones who he obviously dotes on. :)
After talking to him we were feeling pretty confident, we had a lot of things in place that he said we all should have. Things like life insurance, a will/trust, emergency fund with 3+ months salary (not quite there yet, but working towards it), etc. But then he gave us homework. He wanted us to do a budget report of last month’s spending. Well this morning I printed out bank statements and started adding. OUCH! I’m not going to share with you my findings.
This was a wake up call for us, finances are something you need to be attentive of 100% of the time, no sticking to a budget one month and then slacking off the next. The Lord has given us many resources that we are to be good stewards of. I’m thankful that we have someone that will work with us to get on more stable ground (not that we’re in dire trouble, just not where we would like to be).
So here’s a question for you, how are you being a good steward of your finances? If you’re in charge of them, are you being diligent? If your hubby is, how are you making that money stretch? I realized that I spend much more money on groceries than I thought. Any ideas on how to reduce that? I already shop in bulk, visit a few stores, plan meals, make a list and usually do a good job at sticking to it.
[ Posted by Maggie Thu, 07 Jun 2007 20:46:56 GMT ]
So it’s been a few days so I thought I’d give you an update. Monday went well, we didn’t get to the cleaning I had hoped, I needed to take her to my aunt’s so we could go to our childbirth class and needed to get up there before traffic. However, the next day was even better than the first. There were less fits and less reasons for discipline. She again helped me in the kitchen and we did Bible time together and she followed me around while I tied the whole condo.
Our place is looking much better, Hannah is happier and I’m happier. Not only that but Hannah is learning so much from her mommy by being able to watch her rather than a movie. Plus, I’m being much more diligent in doing more to train her. We still have our moments, but it’s getting better and better each day. The past 2 days have been a bit hectic with errands and appointments, but she’s come along with me and has done great.
My goal is to be very consistent with this until we go on our big trip in July. We’re going up to visit family and Hannah and I will be up all month, and then John will be joining us and we’ll be going to Idaho with his family. It will be a challenge to remain consistent while on our trip, but I plan on sticking to it. And then, maybe after a little bit of adjusting to being back home we’ll try potty training again. I so want to train her to be a godly little girl and I see that being diligent at it can produce fruit, but only our good Lord can change the heart and I pray that He is using this to do so. :)
PS Hannah made her bed all on her own yesterday. She got up and then John went in her room for something and the covers were mostly pulled up and her animals were all up by her pillow. John was so surprised she got a special treat first thing in the morning. :) She hasn’t done it since, but that’s ok.
[ Posted by Maggie Mon, 04 Jun 2007 19:43:54 GMT ]
The past few days we’ve been talking about tomatoes around here. One of our friends told me about Raising Godly Tomatoes, I read it a while ago, but decided it was time to take another look. We have been having trouble with Hannah listening immediately and taking advantage of my not so quick state. So after devouring the whole website over the past few days and discussing it with John we decided that today would be the day we would start.
So this morning started with me explaining to Hannah that she was going to stay by me all day, we would do everything together, she would help me clean, we would read stories and we would play. She liked that idea until Daddy went to send an e-mail and she wanted to go with him. I told her no, she needed to stay with me because Daddy needed to send an e-mail and asked her to reply with “Ok Mommy”. Well that was struggle number one, but it didn’t last long and John came in to back me up. I was expecting much more resistance from my strong willed child.
So far today has been great, sure there’s been discipline, but Hannah and I have been enjoying each others company and the day has passed much more quickly and Hannah hasn’t been resisting nearly as much as I thought she would. The few times she started to throw a fit I stopped her immediately told her no gave her a swat (with my hand on a diapered bottom) and told her to stop crying, it wasn’t very long before she did. So far today we’ve had 2 meals at the table together with mostly good table manners, emptied the dishwasher and washed the hand wash dishes together, read the Bible together and read separately together on the couch. I asked her at lunch if she’s had a good day and she said “yeah” and I think she has.
She’s taking a nap now and I think I will too and maybe when she gets up we’ll do more together. I have some filing to do so maybe I’ll let her color nearby while I do that if I don’t get to it before she wakes up. It’s also Monday so it’s the day to clean the living room, so she can help me dust and wash the windows. She loves to “wash” and I use only non toxic cleaners so it’s safe for her to help with supervision. Check out Melaleuca for the cleaners I use, I love them, and feel free to ask me any questions about them. :)
I’m looking forward to training her in household work, the Bible, and do preschool things along the way. We talked about colors while emptying the dishwasher, and matching by putting away the silverware. I think I’ve been missing a lot of training opportunities by keeping her busy while I do my work, it’s amazing what she can help with and she enjoys it! She gets so excited when it’s time to wash. :)
[ Posted by Maggie Mon, 04 Jun 2007 19:08:15 GMT ]
So Hannah’s been understanding a little bit more that there’s a baby inside Mommy’s tummy. She gives my tummy hugs, kisses and “noses”. Well the other day she tried to give the baby juice. She held one of toy baby bottles up to my tummy and asked if the baby wanted juice. :) She’ll be such a good big sister.
Another funny… the other day she had a baby doll in the car with her. We got to our destination, she threw the baby on the ground, asked if it was ok and then told the baby that she’ “be right back.” I’m not so sure what to think about this one. It was sweet that she asked if the baby was ok and told it she’d be back, but throwing it on the floor… not so good.
Well that’s it for Hannah funnies, if I think of anymore I’ll be sure to post them.
[ Posted by Maggie Sat, 02 Jun 2007 03:03:57 GMT ]
These were the words of my husband today as he walked in the door. Many would expect to hear those words after a particularly rough day when the house is a mess and dinner isn’t even started and the children are running around half naked. Well for my husband he says it when the opposite is true. My husband walked into today to a peaceful living room. The kitchen and dining room were also presentable and dinner was at least started. Hannah had some difficulties while I was trying to get it going, so it wasn’t ready yet, but that was ok. What’s really funny, actually kinda sad, is he had to repeat “Really, what happened?” I guess he though someone came over to help me or we were having guests over or something. He asked if a reverse explosion happened.
While I’m certainly tired from all the shopping and cleaning I did today, I feel so great, and yet sad at the same time. This is so out of the ordinary for me that my husband thought that something was up. Makes me realize I need to really work at being a more faithful housekeeper. My back seems to do better when I keep moving as well. I’m still not vacuuming, sweeping or scrubbing tubs, but I can at least keep things neat. I need to find a balance though, Hannah didn’t get much play time today. I’m sure though that as I am more diligent daily it won’t take as long to keep it this way.
[ Posted by Maggie Tue, 29 May 2007 20:11:16 GMT ]
I promised another post about how I “starve” Hannah. What is ironic is the day after she ate all those pepper was a day that she only ate dinner. So it is fresh in my mind how I handle these situations. I’ll just go over that day with you and then maybe summarize at the end.
The day started out sort of rushed, I forget why, but Hannah only had milk for breakfast. This isn’t a problem for Hannah, she doesn’t eat much in the morning even if I do put food out in front of her. Although this is something I need to work on. I’m sure if I limited that morning milk and had a nutritious meal in front of her she could learn to eat it just like the other meals.
Lunch came around and I had some leftover mac and cheese with peas in it. One of Hannah’s favorites. So I heated it up and set her at the dining table and we prayed for lunch. She didn’t touch it! She was acting cranky so I sent her to bed without lunch.
After her nap we tried again, still wouldn’t touch it. By this time though she was hungry. But this is what I had for her and I knew she liked it. So we held off all afternoon. By 4 she was very hungry, but since I didn’t want her to spoil her dinner by eating all of her lunch I just gave her 1 glass of milk. We had an impromptu date night so Hannah got to go to Aunt Debbie’s for lunch and apparently she made up for not eating all day with lots of chicken and cantaloupe and whatever else they would put in front of her.
So here are some guidelines:
1. Once food is put on the table that is what is available for that meal. Sometimes for snack or the two earlier meals I’ll ask her what she would like, but once a decision is made that’s it, no changing your mind. And if I decide, and don’t give her a choice, that’s my right as a parent and she gets no say.
2. I don’t have a bite rule, if it’s something new I’ll try and help her eat it, but if she doesn’t want to eat I won’t force her. As someone who has struggled with their weight all their life I find it difficult to make my child eat if she don’t want to, no need to finish her plate either. I’m trying to make serving sizes closer to what she would eat as not to waste food, but if she eats a few bites of all the food groups I’m happy and John will eat the rest. :)
3. If she does not eat the food she does not get to eat until the next meal. Even if she does eat food she doesn’t get to eat until the next meal. The rare exception to this is if she eats a lot at a meal and then is still hungry a short time later, she may be going through a growth spurt, so she can have extra snacks. In the above instance she normally gets a snack sometime between nap and dinner, so she was offered lunch again. I don’t always carry over the skipped meal to snack, especially if it doesn’t save well, but she may not eat until the regular eating time (usually a time frame, not a set time).
4. If she doesn’t eat dinner she gets one cup of milk before bed, no more than that. She normally gets milk before bed and will sometimes ask for a second cup, if she ate well she may have it. But if she didn’t I want her to see that she is still hungry because she didn’t eat the meal, the one glass of milk is usually enough to make it so her tummy doesn’t hurt from being hungry and she’s able to go to sleep. If it’s during the day though I let her tummy hurt until the next meal. She has never gotten sick from this, never wasted away and usually eats a ton at the next meal. This also does not happen very often.
With these guidelines Hannah learns there are meal times, and that is when food is available. We have breakfast after waking up, lunch around 11 (usually 3 hours later), snack after nap (around 3ish) and dinner when daddy gets home. If daddy is late or dinner is behind then she can have a pre-dinner snack, we don’t like a cranky girl for daddy’s homecoming. Plus he’s usually pretty hungry when getting home so if dinner’s going to be longer than 1/2 an hour they’ll share a snack together. Usually fruit or trail mix, so if she fills up on these and doesn’t eat a lot at dinner at least it’s nutritious food. :)
She also has the option of not eating if she’s not hungry, but it would be in her best interest if she would eat a little bit because it’ll be 3-4 hours before eating again. I try not to have gaps more than 4 hours between meals so that all of our blood sugars stay level. Hope these tricks help with meal time woes. :)
[ Posted by Maggie Fri, 25 May 2007 06:14:26 GMT ]
I just finished the last blog and looked over and realized that Hannah has just eaten 1 1/2 raw sweet peppers. 1/2 of each, red, orange and yellow. Yesterday the topic of children eating came up at the play ground. I am so blessed to have a little one that will eat veggies gladly, and thinks fruit is as good as candy. But this has not come 100% naturally. While I do agree that some kids are harder than others in this area I don’t think that it’s a entirely a matter of what the kids will and will not eat. Here are some things that we did that I think have helped in this area:
1. Hannah did not taste any sugar until after her 1st birthday, I even tried making a sugar free birthday cake. Oh, and not with fake sugar that stuff is worse than the real stuff, but with apple juice. That ended up being a disaster so with the little one on the way the first taste of sugar will probably be the birthday cake.
2. After her 1st birthday sugary treats were just that—treats. We don’t keep them in the house regularly, and she’s only allowed to share with Daddy if we’re served dessert elsewhere. Fruit are her treat. There is nothing else sweet to look forward to. If John and I want something we wait until she’s asleep or maybe mid afternoon, so she has plenty of time to burn off the sugar and it won’t spoil her dinner. We don’t eat as much this way either, by the time she’s in bed I’m usually ready to head there myself.
3. Although I will ask Hannah what she would like to eat from time to time, once it is put in front of her that is what she gets, nothing else. If she doesn’t want it for whatever reason she just doesn’t get to eat. She rarely starves. She’ll frequently make up for it at the next meal. I’ll do another post on this practice.
4. I have no preconceived ideas of what she will or will not like. She eats what we eat and that’s it. Here are some things she likes that may surprise you. Spicy salsa, sushi, broccoli, spinach, shrimp and the most recent flax plus cereal… we just bought this at Costco and she pointed to the box and asked for some as a snack, saying “crackers”, so I gave her some and she ate it all. Oh and trail mix, even without the chocolate pieces, oh, but if there are chocolate pieces she will not eat the nuts and seeds, so I don’t get it with the chocolate anymore.
5. I give her REAL food when possible. I used to give her snacks of Cheerios or Goldfish. But one day I did that and then cut up a mango with blueberries and goat cheese for me. She dropped the Goldfish and asked for what I was having. I had to make more because she ate so much of it, including the goat cheese. Made me realize I wasn’t doing her any favors by giving her processed food, she likes the real stuff better anyways. I still go for the Goldfish on occasion, but trail mix is my new quick snack for her. And fruit or veggies are often a after nap snack, maybe with cottage cheese or plain yogurt.
6. If I do make convenience food for lunch or dinner, I don’t let it go as is. Macaroni and Cheese almost always has peas or broccoli in it and I’ve been adding real cheese to it as well lately, so that way we get in some real calcium. Top Ramen has an egg and peas in it.
7. The same goes for real food I make. Fajitas is mostly peppers and onions with some meat, if I’m up for it spaghetti has extra veggies in it-broccoli, carrots, zucchini, all excellent additions. Although spaghetti is mostly tomato sauce, and that’s excellent in and of it’s self, add a big salad and you’re good to go. Even hamburgers can have finely chopped veggies added to the mix, if you’re using turkey this makes them more moist as well. Oh and then pile on the veggies after they’re done cooking as well… tomato, lettuce, avocado, onion, yummy! Spinach is also a good mix in for hamburgers or meatloaf.
Hope that helps with some ideas to fit in more produce to your children’s diet.
PS The peppers were yesterday, I would recommend not letting your child eat that many raw peppers at once, especially if they’re not potty trained… enough said.
[ Posted by Maggie Thu, 24 May 2007 22:11:59 GMT ]
My theory did work, in fact it worked better than I thought!! Ok, so I was in pain the day after the WAP, but perhaps I tried too much too soon. The rest of our weekend didn’t provide any rest for me. Friday Hannah didn’t take a nap, but that was about it. Saturday was my cousin’s graduation and party, which had me on my feet a lot chasing Hannah around in their big back yard. Sunday was the Street Fair, and we walked the whole thing, and then on Monday I went to the mall with my cousins and pushed Hannah around for a few hours. At the end of each of these days I was VERY tired and sore, in fact when we were walking back to the van from the mall I didn’t think my left leg would hold me anymore it felt like my hip just decided to quit, but my cousins teased me, took Hannah and I made it. :)
What has surprised me though, is that overall I’m feeling much better. My pain has been a 4 most days this week with an occasional twinge that hurts like crazy but then passes. Being active has been a big help. Now some people may say “I told you so.” But you must understand the pain is focused and intense when it comes while walking, and when I move I feel all of my hip and pelvic area shifting around, intuition tells me to stay still so things that aren’t supposed to move can stay put. But regardless I will be trying to walk everyday. Today a neighbor and I went for a good long walk and I feel so good being active again.
I also went to the chiropractor again today. I didn’t have an appointment, but I’ve been feeling a lot more movement lately and she wouldn’t be in the office again until Wednesday, so I wanted to know what to do. My knees are even starting to go. They pop more and I can feel the caps moving around. So my chiropractor told me that our goal is to keep me walking the entire pregnancy and in order to do so I need to be doing some gentle strengthening exercises so my muscles can make up for my inadequate ligaments. So I will be visiting my good friend Gym again after a long hiatus.
I am so glad that I am feeling better overall. It could be that I just feel better because I’m not focusing on the pain as much and I’m doing things I either enjoy or need to do, so I’m feeling some what productive again, but either way, I feel better. I’m glad to be moving again. I even went grocery shopping the other day and have a weeks worth of meals planned. Things still hurt, but I’m functioning much better than I was a week ago. Still no housework, as in vacuuming, moping, tubs, but other things I seem to be able to handle ok and I have some great friends that help me with the rest. :)
