And there goes another week...

For some reason, in my mind the week always ends on Friday.  Saturday and Sunday don't count, I mean, why should they?  They are the in between times.  The fun times.  Then, Monday starts a new week.  I'm not sure when I first starting thinking of time like this.  Maybe when I was in the hospital with Matthew and every Monday was a new week?  But how did Friday work in there?  Who knows, but it's  how I like to think of it.

And it was a good week.  You've read the updates about Samantha's appointment and our fun with the apnea monitor, and the launch of my etsy store, so you have a pretty good idea of what we've been up to.  How about some more details?

Samantha is doing great.  We do have to use the apnea monitor for all of her naps as well as night time sleeping.  Which, for some reason, I didn't expect.  Now, I get to carry it around with us.  Which isn't bad, except that it means her wardrobe is incredibly limited so I can accommodate the wires.  Speaking of wardrobes, I had to clear hers out today to make room for the bigger sizes.  She has officially outgrown all of her 0-3 month clothes.  And I filled up a 30 gallon tub with them.  It was so full I couldn't close the lid.  Note to self: if there is a next time, don't buy so much stuff!  Cloth diapers are also going great.  We've only had 2 leaks.  One she soaked through the diaper (she can be a heavy wetter) and one she just leaked through the leg.  Not too bad, just a little bit really.  I've also given up on the idea of using liners for poopy diapers.  It really isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  I've even gotten it down pretty good for when we're out and predicting how many we'll need.  I've also very happy to report that even though the poop diapers have still been green, super runny, slimy and filled with mucous, with a cold water soak and wash  without soap, followed by a hot water wash with just a tiny bit of All free and clear, not a single stain.  LOVE that! 

She's smiling all the time, still having gross diapers, but it might take a while for her to get everything out of her system.  She laughs like crazy and cracks me up and we've been so fortunate.  She goes to sleep around 7, gets up at 2:30 to nurse, goes back to sleep within 10 minutes, is up at 4:30 to nurse again and then up again around 6:30 for 10 min and I wake her up at 7:30.  We take Kaitlyn to school, get back and she sleeps until about 9:30.  Nurses and then sleeps until about 11, which is when I go to the gym.  She nurses and then normally sleeps until about 2.  Nurses, we pick up Kaitlyn and she naps again at 3.  She gets up at about 5 and then eats at 6 and 7 before going to bed.  She's a great sleeper and a great eater.  The only thing that upsets her is being hungry really.  And gassy.  But, hopefully we'll get rid of the later as figure out the food allergy.  It's hard to believe she's nearly 11 weeks.

Kaitlyn is doing awesome.  I was able to talk her into getting her hair cut today and so I jumped on it and got mine cut off too.  Hers looks really cute, it's just a simple bob (which is what I did too) at about her shoulders (which is what I did too) but it looks so much thicker and fuller now.  And healthier.  She really wants it long, it just grows so slow.  I know she's going to be jealous when Samantha's outgrows hers.

Kaitlyn is our sensitive child.  From a young age we've been really big on teaching her and asking her "how would that make you feel" about nearly every action she takes.  Which means that when she feels she is being treated badly, she takes it really personally.  A good example of this happened yesterday.  Every Thursday at school her class goes to the library to check out a book.  They don't get to take the book home, but they can keep it in their desk.  Then, that following Thursday they turn the books in.  Yesterday was their library day.  Kaitlyn turned in her book.  She wasn't allowed to check out a book.  They told her she had one out from December 8.  She argued, it didn't change.  When I pick Kaitlyn up from school we have a ritual, I ask her the following questions: How was your day, what was your favorite part of the day, what was the worst part of the day, did you eat all your lunch, what was the funniest thing that happened.  The answers are usually pretty typical.  But, yesterday she was really upset when she described to me what happened at school.  And really, what's a mom (who isn't allowed chocolate!!!) supposed to do??  Well, I of course called the librarian this morning and let her have it.  Kaitlyn has NEVER been in trouble at school and she felt that way.  The librarian was really apologetic and solved the problem.  I picked up Kaitlyn and her teacher ran after me.  She apologized to me about the problem.  Evidently it was her fault.  She had put the books in the librarian's cubbie to turn them in before break and didn't think anything else of it.  Guess who put them in the wrong cubbie?  Kaitlyn got an apology from the teacher and librarian and got to check out a book today.  So did the two other kids who got accused of the same thing.  So, something good came out of it!

Speaking of school (like all these speaking ofs?), I understand that Kaitlyn does not get a lot of learning out of it.  She is really advanced and just gets bored there.  We also understand the importance of her going to school.  She gets to learn about social interaction, not always getting her way, listening to other authority figures, time management, taking initiative and so on and so forth.  Plus, she gets to see her best friend.  But, we make sure that we challenge her at home.  She can read ANYTHING put in front of her.  It's awesome.  She doesn't get a lot of adult references, but I'm really good with that :)  Math is where it's harder to come up with challenges that are not too challenging so she doesn't get frustrated.  So, I try to start easy and then work it up harder.  And we do a lot in the car, so they have to be paper free.  This weeks challenge has been algebra.  And she is doing awesome!  We started with: if 82 + x = 97, what is x?  And worked our way to more double digit problems.  And now we're working on adding in some multiplication in with it.  As soon as I explained to her that it was like a mystery, she was so excited to practice and is always asking for more problems.  I love that kid.  And she really loved roller skating this week.  She got a lot faster.  Our challenge for next week is to work on her going left right left right instead of left, left, left, right and so on.  Then I know she'll just take off!

Like I said before I got a hair cut today.  About 6-7 inches off so now it's too my shoulders.  I went to a cheap chain place just because it was a super easy cut with nice thick hair.  I told her what I wanted and she asked me several times if I was sure.  I was.  Then she asked if it was ok with my husband.  Um....  What?  Seriously?  Yeah, he loves me for me and likes my hair long or short.  Hell, he said I should get a pixie cut.  Then that led to all of her baby raising advice, like breastfeeding.  It amazed me how she felt it was ok to tell me to make sure I eat right and then asked me how breastfeeding worked.  Again, Um...  Ok.  Whatever.

Our goal this year as been to stay at home more.  Don't rush out and try to do everything with everyone.  Which means I've been good about limiting ourselves to one event a weekend.  Considering I usually do several a day, that's pretty impressive!  I really want to work on spending more time and exerting more energy on our families and our core group of friends.  If there is anything I've learned in my old age it is that quality matters so much more than quantity.  I like the quality that we have.  I feel blessed.

After Matthew passed away, I needed something to do.  I needed to keep my hands and my mind busy and off to those dark thoughts.  So, I started selling tutu skirts and twirl dresses and digital cards and stuff on ebay.  I was going pretty good, selling a lot and staying busy.  I loved it.  Then, I was pregnant again.  We were moving, I miscarried, I went to work while Kaitlyn was in preschool and I lost my drive for it.  So, I stopped.  With Samantha here, Kaitlyn in school for most the day and my desire to stay home more, my drive is back.  I'm glad to of dusted off the sewing machine.  I'm learning new techniques and really having fun with it.

At the end of the day, this was a really good week for us.  We had a lot of fun, made memories, took pictures, smiled, laughed, learned and lived.  We thought about Matthew often, as we always do, spent time with good family and great friends, and really, at the end of the day, isn't that what life is all about?

And with that, I'm going to bed!  Tomorrow is Saturday, so I get to sleep until as late as 9!!  Yay me!!  And we have a birthday party in the afternoon. I'm sure the girls will have a blast.



* sidenote: I feel totally cyberstalked, I had the same visitor visit me 13 times in an hour and a half after yahoo searching denise miller facebook rio linda, not really sure what they are/were expecting? Because I don't like that type of behavior, I am going to be reviewing comments before they are posted and consider going invitation only for a while.  I'm really not in the mood for drama, there are so many more important things in life :) I'm sure you understand! *